Personal tragedy, sadly, was also a part of Orbison's life. In 1966, he lost his wife Claudette to a motorcycle accident and a couple of years later, while he was away on a tour of England, he lost two of his sons to a terrible house fire that destroyed his home in Tennessee. His third son was miraculously saved by his parents.
Orbison was obviously devastated and to try and block out all his pain by touring constantly. In 1969, he remarried and started a new family, but he did not perform in the United States again until 1977.
The 1970s were a down time for Orbison, although he continued to tour and release music, the albums did not fare as well as his previously released material. He tried his hand at country music with the LP I'm Still In Love With You, and also released the album Regeneration in 1976. Things got so bad that in 1979, Orbison even attempted releasing a disco music album called Laminar Flow.
In the 1980's, Orbison's career enjoyed a rebirth of sorts. He collaborated with Emmylou Harris on the song, "That Lovin' You Feeling Again," which would go on to win the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. He also recorded the song "Wild Hearts" for inclusion in the film Insignificance and the song "In Dreams" was included in the David Lynch movie Blue Velvet. He also re-recorded his 1961 hit "Crying" as a duet with k. d. lang for the movie Hiding Out (which would earn him another Grammy Award). All these things helped Orbison regain his popularity.
His 1987 HBO Special, Roy Orbison and Friends, was accompanied by a who's-who supporting cast including musical director T-Bone Burnett, pianist Glen Hardin (who had played with Buddy Holly and Elvis), guitarist James Burton (also played with Elvis), background singers Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Jennifer Warnes. All loved Orbison and lobbied to participate and the special helped Orbison gain the attention of a younger generation.
Shortly after the performance, he teamed up with the previously mentioned rock stars (Lynne, Harrison, Dylan and Petty) to form the Traveling Wilburys, who achieved mass commercial appeal and success. He also recorded a new solo LP, Mystery Girl, which yielded his last hit "You Got It."
Article comments
1 - Rene Dwight
Roy was greatly underestimated when it comes to his place in recent music history, maybe his sunglasses image held him back but it has to be said he was a "one of a kind". It is said he took on the songs that Elvis's voice did not suit [ those with a higher operatic pitch ].. People like Roy, Buddy Holly and Rock Nelson have all been a great influence on my own music and I can only aspire to be even just the slightest bit as good as them..
Rene Dwight - The Blue Cougars...