‘Only the Lonely’ shot him to fame, then ‘Crying’ and ‘Running Scared’ – all heart-rending, dark emotional ballads in the country style, sung in his trademark quirky, three octave voice. And along with his success in the 1960s, Roy Orbison was hit by enough tragedies to fill several lifetimes.
A BBC music documentary this week followed his short life through the eyes of two of his sons. His wife was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1966, followed two years later by a house fire which killed two of his children. The remaining son was left with grandparents while he remarried to produce two more children and despite a serious heart condition he was driven to keep working and tour, dying aged 52.
He was born 23 April 1936 3.50pm Vernon, Texas, with his parents often out of work and constantly moving, spending some years with grandparents. A present of a guitar when he was six became his passion.
He had a hugely complicated chart with an intense 8th house Sun Uranus in Taurus with Mars Mercury also in Taurus in the 8th. Strong 8th house charts often go along with a dramatic life, full of unforeseen events. He also had a restless Mutable Grand Cross of a creative, though neurotic Neptune opposition Saturn square Jupiter opposition his Gemini (= pop singer) midheaven, so his life would often feel like a windmill in a storm. His Pluto was in a bleak trine to Saturn; and his Mars Mercury in a showbizzy trine to Neptune. For all the celebrity attached to his success, he was reclusive and shy. With planets in all three hidden Water houses, he’d want to retreat whenever he could.
His creative, musical 7th Harmonic was well aspected; as was his leaving-his-mark 17H. Not surprisingly his victim 12H was also notable.
When he died, I thought it was a mistake that 52 was listed as his age. I’d watched two of his late life performances, a documentary with The Traveling Wilberries, and the “Black and White Night” special with him singing his hits alongside Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and many stars. He looked to be in his mid sixties, he was that worn down by life. But his voice was still beautiful, as was his contribution to the world. RIP