Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988), nicknamed "The Big O," was an influential American singer-songwriter, guitarist and a pioneer of rock and roll whose recording career spanned more than four decades. By the mid-1960s Orbison was internationally recognized for his ballads of lost love, rhythmically advanced melodies, characteristic dark sunglasses, and his taut, powerful alto voice coupled with his occasional distinctive usage of falsetto, typified in songs such as "Ooby Dooby," "Only The Lonely," "In Dreams," "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Crying," "Running Scared," and "You Got It." Elvis Presley once said Orbison had the best singing voice he'd ever heard. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and posthumously in 1989 into the National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Two misconceptions about Orbison's appearance continue to surface: that he was an albino, and that he wore his trademark dark glasses because he was blind or nearly so. Neither is correct, though his poor vision required him to wear thick corrective lenses. From childhood he suffered from a combination of hyperopia, severe astigmatism, anisometropia, and strabismus.[citation needed] Orbison's trademark sunglasses were a fashion statement arising from an incident early in his career. Orbison had left his regular glasses in an airplane. Due to go on stage in a few minutes and unable to see without corrective lenses, his only other pair of glasses were dark prescription sunglasses and he "had to see to get on stage." He wore the sunglasses throughout his tour of England with the Beatles in 1963 and continued the practice for the remainder of his professional career. "I'll just do this and look cool." However, Orbison once said in an interview that he wore sunglasses on the plane because the sun was bright and forgot he was wearing them on stage. Shortly after he finished performing, he looked in the mirror and noticed he had not taken them off, so he laughed about it and continued to wear them for the rest of his career, without taking them off once.(Source: Wilkipedia) Link
Two misconceptions about Orbison's appearance continue to surface: that he was an albino, and that he wore his trademark dark glasses because he was blind or nearly so. Neither is correct, though his poor vision required him to wear thick corrective lenses. From childhood he suffered from a combination of hyperopia, severe astigmatism, anisometropia, and strabismus.[citation needed] Orbison's trademark sunglasses were a fashion statement arising from an incident early in his career. Orbison had left his regular glasses in an airplane. Due to go on stage in a few minutes and unable to see without corrective lenses, his only other pair of glasses were dark prescription sunglasses and he "had to see to get on stage." He wore the sunglasses throughout his tour of England with the Beatles in 1963 and continued the practice for the remainder of his professional career. "I'll just do this and look cool." However, Orbison once said in an interview that he wore sunglasses on the plane because the sun was bright and forgot he was wearing them on stage. Shortly after he finished performing, he looked in the mirror and noticed he had not taken them off, so he laughed about it and continued to wear them for the rest of his career, without taking them off once.(Source: Wilkipedia) Link
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