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On this day, 22 May 1969, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist Roy Orbison played Cardiff’s Capitol Theatre. He was supported by The Art Movement, Ray Cameron and Moira Anderson.
He had just released his thirteenth studio album Roy Orbison's Many Moods It included two singles, both of which were minor hits in the UK; "Heartache", which just missed the Top Forty, stalling at number 44, and "Walk On", which scraped into the same chart, stopping at number 39.
Born in Texas, Orbison began singing in a rockabilly and country-and-western band as a teenager. He was signed by Sam Phillips of Sun Records in 1956, but enjoyed his greatest success with Monument Records. From 1960 to 1966, 22 of Orbison's singles reached the Billboard Top 40. He wrote or co-wrote almost all of his own Top 10 hits, including "Only the Lonely" (1960), "Running Scared" (1961), "Crying" (1961), "In Dreams" (1963), and "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964).
Known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s.
His music was described by critics as operatic, earning him the nicknames "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Many of Orbison's songs conveyed vulnerability at a time when most male rock-and-roll performers projected machismo. He performed with minimal motion and in black clothes, matching his dyed black hair and dark sunglasses.
