The author of “Oh, Pretty Woman” lost his wife in an accident. Two years later, another tragedy occurred

Roy Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas. Even though he grew up in a poor family, he never lost his cheerful spirit. However, he was not very self-confident due to his eyesight defect, which often caused him to be teased by his peers. He sought escape in music, which became his greatest passion right after receiving a guitar for his sixth birthday.

He didn’t plan a career, he wanted to be a geologist. Roy Orbison became a music star by accident

He made his first radio appearance before he was 10 years old. He started with country, but the choice of genres he liked evolved over time. He started earning money from music in high school, performing with the band The Win Westerners, but he wanted to pursue geology professionally, because at that time being an artist was not particularly profitable. He changed his approach only after a conversation with him, whom he met during television recordings. He gave him contacts with the founder of Sun Records, Sam Philips, but he was not interested in cooperation.

Orbison was not discouraged by the failure. He changed his name to The Teen Kings, with which he released the song “Ooby Dooby” in 1956. The success caused Philips to change his mind dramatically, and a re-recording of the song landed it on the Billboard Hot 100. The specter of fame and huge money led to a conflict that ended with the group’s disbandment. Roy then started a solo career, only to disappear from the scene shortly thereafter. He returned to creating in 1960, releasing the great hit “Only the Lonely” as a duet with Joe Melson. Shortly thereafter, he made his debut on the recording market with the album “Lonely and Blue”, which was followed by a string of successes. The biggest one was “Oh,” released in 1964, which is still considered the biggest hit in his repertoire.

First he became a single father, then he also lost his sons. Life did not spare Roy Orbison

However, success on stage did not always go hand in hand with happiness in private life. From the very beginning, however, he could count on the support of Claudette, with whom he got married a year after his debut. In 1958, their firstborn son, Roy DeWayne, was born, and three years later the family expanded with another child, Anthony King. However, the happiness did not last long. Frequent concerts meant that the artist was rarely at home. It was then that his wife committed the crime. Although he tried to forgive her, they failed to reach an agreement and decided to divorce. However, they still kept in touch because of their sons, and after some time their feelings rekindled and they decided to get married again.

At that time, Orbison was experiencing a creative crisis, and his importance in the industry was no longer as important as it once was. This, however, faded into the background when in June 1966 he was involved in a motorcycle accident in which his 25-year-old wife died. He was left alone with three small children and was unable to come to terms with this tragedy. He threw himself into duties that somewhat eased his pain. However, it came back to him with a vengeance when, during an American tour, he learned that his oldest sons had died in a house fire in Tenessee. They were 10 and 6 years old at the time. After these painful experiences, the musician remarried and even had another child, but he created only for pleasure, not out of the desire to conquer the market. He died on December 6, 1988 from a heart attack.