Elvis Presley has been called the greatest rock ‘n’ roll act of all time – but even he had his heroes. Just as the Beatles were heavily inspired by Elvis and his work, King had a huge American star to look forward to.
Years into his career, Elvis toured with this star – aka The Big O – and spent weeks on the road with him.
Elvis loves American rockabilly singer Roy Orbison. Rock has been known for providing a harsher sonic tone to the music industry. He wore a black, coily, brushed-back haircut and wide Ray Bans that became his signature look. These features have been adopted in part by Elvis over the years as well.
The singer was one of the biggest acts in the world throughout the 1950s. In many ways, the groundwork for the likes of Elvis and The Beatles began to take on music in a major way.
At that time, he sold more than 7 million albums worldwide – and this was not easy. But most of all, he received the unwavering respect of Elvis Presley.
While on stage on the residency program in Las Vegas, Elvis told his audience that Orbison was “the greatest singer in the world.”
Elvis was also very respectful of the singer. Throughout his decades-long career, he has covered many artist tracks while performing live, including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and many more.
But Elvis refused to cover any of Orbison’s songs. He reportedly felt he couldn’t “sing any of Roy’s songs better than the original recordings”.
He later commented that Orbison had the “most perfect voice”.
However, Elvis’ respect for Orbison was not one-sided. In fact, Orbison noted attending as many shows as possible from 1954 to 1976.
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Orbison went to Elvis’ mansion, Graceland, and knocked on the door. Tell the doorman he has a song to deliver.
Unfortunately for him, Elvis was not at home. And the doorman told him he probably wouldn’t be interested in the song.
She emptied this news from Orbison, but she did not give up. He tried to pass it on to The Everly Brothers, too – but they weren’t interested either.
In the end, he recorded Orbison Only the Lonely and released it under his own name.
It became the only single ever released that reached number two on the US Singles Charts. Meanwhile, it went straight to number one in the UK.
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