SHOF Mourns The Passing Of Barbara Orbison

By Jim Bessman
(Also view this article on the Examiner website)

It seemed only fitting that Barbara Orbison would die on the anniversary of her beloved husband Roy Orbison’s death in 1988. She remained devoted to him and his music when she herself passed Dec. 6th in Los Angeles from pancreatic cancer—23 years to the day after Roy Orbison died of a heart attack.

In the intervening years, Barbara Orbison, who was 61, worked hard to keep her husband’s music alive while developing her publishing company’s catalog—and making lifelong friends.

“Barbara was so beautiful and charming that people often wouldn’t realize how smart she was,” says Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Cynthia Weil. “I adored her.” Weil’s observations and sentiments are echoed by all who knew Orbison.

“She was a beautiful, smart, savvy woman who was also a formidable force in the business world and developed Roy’s songs into a publishing and merchandising empire,” notes Songwriters Hall of Fame president/CEO Linda Moran. “Everyone knew and everyone loved Barbara—you felt very special being her friend.”

Del Bryant, president/CEO of the BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) performing rights organization, was long close to Orbison, his parents Felice and Boudleaux Bryant being the songwriting team behind The Everly Brothers and other artists including Roy Orbison.

“Barbara Orbison’s passion for her beloved Roy’s otherworldly voice and extraordinary gift for writing songs has never been in question,” says Bryant. “Her love for and belief in the gentle and shy soul behind the trademark dark glasses helped elevate him from star to pop culture icon. In fact, Barbara could have taught a Harvard Business School course in global branding: She was always ‘working for the man’ and for the beautiful sons they shared. Her feverish work ethic, take-no-prisoners style and success ultimately made her as iconic as Roy. She was totally unique and our only solace is that our ‘pretty woman’ joins the love of her life, on the anniversary of his death. Now that’s true love.”

Bryant references, of course, Roy Orbison’s immortal 1964 hit “Oh, Pretty Woman.” Barbara Orbison, as the song’s publisher, was particularly proud of the copyright—and particularly successful in perpetuating it internationally.

“Here’s a song written and recorded such a long time ago, and then Roy passes on and then we have a movie called Pretty Woman and then his version from A Black & White Night Live gets a [1990] Grammy,” she told Billboard in 2003. “And now all of a sudden I get a call from India, which is so far away from our culture. It gives another lifetime to our copyright.”

She was referring to “Oh, Pretty Woman”‘s placement in the Bollywood blockbuster Kal Ho Naa Ho, and it’s India-wide popularity as the soundtrack’s biggest song.

“She was so in touch with the business and kept Roy’s spirit alive,” says Billy Burnette, whose song “(All I Can Do is) Dream You” was performed in the stellar Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night 1988 TV special. “She was a brilliant person and so generous—and gave a lot to the business.”

Burnette was published via Orbison for 12 years; his songs were recorded by the likes of Faith Hill, Alan Jackson and George Strait, who hit No. 1 with his “River Of Love.”

“What can I say? She was just a great friend as well as business partner—as beautiful inside as out,” continues Burnette. “I will miss her forever.”

Concludes Moran: “Her powerful spirit will live on in the hearts and souls of all of those whose lives she touched.”

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