While many impressive words have been written about Roy Orbison and his legendary voice, equally as impressive are the comments made by his peers, musical and otherwise. It’s only fitting to include some of their quotes on the man referred to as “a gentle giant.”

From humble beginnings in west Texas, Orbison had a talent unique to the music field that ultimately led to international stardom. His first band, The Wink Westerners, transformed itself into The Teen Kings, disbanding in 1956.

Fortunate to sign on with Fred Foster’s Monument Records in 1959, Orbison’s talent as a songwriter and singer helped launch his career. Foster had a team concept to his business, relying on strengths of the players involved, and giving financial support toward that strength. As a result, quality over quantity was the rule. As most artists will do in an environment of appreciation and total creative freedom, Orbison thrived and quickly climbed on board the road to music legend.

Of Foster, Orbison stated: “Foster was smart enough to get out of the way at the right time. He didn't say 'sound like this'or 'play it this way.' He just knew what sounded good to him. Which is the best producer you can have. Whatever sounds beautiful to the producer is fantastic."

Defying industry trends, Orbison and Foster brought to the music charts a unique concept at the time. Almost operatic in sound, much of Orbison’s music included string arrangements, helping to create, as Bob Dylan put it: “songs within songs.” In the early ’60’s, Orbison unleashed a consecutive string of over 20 hits that landed in the Top 40. Among these pop classics were “Candy Man”, “Crying”, “Dream Baby”, and “Only The Lonely”.

By many accounts, his voice had a vocal range of four octaves. In a 1988 interview with Rolling Stone, Orbison said: “I liked the sound of [my voice]. I liked making it sing, making the voice ring, and I just kept doing it. And I think that somewhere between the time of 'Ooby Dooby' and 'Only the Lonely', it kind of turned into a good voice." Quite the understatement.

Dwight Yoakum, no stranger to a beautiful voice, once noted that Orbison’s voice was like “the cry of an angel falling backward through an open window.”

Bob Dylan, citing Orbison as a great influence, is equally as complementary about the voice of Roy Orbison: “With Roy, you didn't know if you were listening to mariachi or opera. He kept you on your toes. With him, it was all about fat and blood. He sounded like he was singing from an Olympian mountaintop. [After "Ooby Dooby"] (h)e was now singing his compositions in three or four octaves that made you want to drive your car over a cliff. He sang like a professional criminal... His voice could jar a corpse, always leave you muttering to yourself something like, 'Man, I don't believe it'”.

A series of events occurred in the mid-60’s that would bring Orbison’s light speed career to a crawl. Leaving Monument Records for greener pastures at MGM Records was supposed to lead to greater opportunities for his music and an expansion into television and film. Unfortunately, he became lost in the corporate shuffle and corporate financial mismanagement. His first album with MGM called “Goodnight” sold less than 200,000 copies. He continued making music, but the hits associated with his talent while at Monument Records were long gone.

Orbison lost his wife Claudette to a motorcycle accident in 1966. Two years later, while touring in Europe, he received the phone call that two of his three sons had perished in a fire that burned his home to the ground.

“Milestones”, his last album for MGM was released in 1973. While still popular in the UK and Australia, his American star began to dim. Thanks to a series of Orbison covers by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Van Halen, and Don McLean, he again began to receive recognition.

He won a Grammy in 1980 for his duet with Emmylou Harris on “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again”.

In 1987, Orbison was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was also honored with induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The induction was made by Bruce Springsteen who commented that, while referencing his “Thunder Road” album: “I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector—but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison."

Several months later, at the Coconut Ballroom in Los Angeles, Orbison and Springsteen combined with the likes of T-Bone Burnett, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, k.d. lang, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, and Steven Soles for the classic “Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night”. The backing band for this music video, filmed in black and white, was the TCB Band, Elvis Presley’s band from 1969 until his death in 1977.

In a career spanning more than four decades and filled with landmark achievements, the Black and White Night stands as one of his truly great ones.

The Traveling Wilburys became an overnight success, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Orbison. Their initial effort, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, became a triple-platinum seller, spending 53 weeks on the U.S. charts, peaking at No. 3. It hit No. 16 in the UK and No. 1 in Australia, the classic example of a high performance team of superstars. The album also won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, and was named one of the Top 100 albums of the decade by Rolling Stone.

Of the recording sessions, Lynne stated: “Everybody just sat there going, 'Wow, it's Roy Orbison!'... Even though he's become your pal and you're hanging out and having a laugh and going to dinner, as soon as he gets behind that mike and he's doing his business, suddenly it's shudder time." Such was the Orbison impact.

Bono, of U2, was working on a song called “She’s A Mystery To Me” when he met Orbison for the first time. After that initial meeting, a friendship started that found Bono in the studio with Orbison for the recording of the song: “I stood beside him and sang with him. He didn't seem to be singing. So I thought, 'He'll sing it the next take. He's just reading the words.' And then we went in to listen to the take, and there was this voice, which was the loudest whisper I've ever heard. He had been singing it. But he hardly moved his lips. And the voice was louder than the band in its own way. I don't know how he did that. It was like sleight of hand.”

A demanding tour and video schedule in the autumn of 1988 kept Orbison busy. A big American and European tour was planned for the following year. After playing a filmed show in Cleveland, Ohio on December 4, he headed to Nashville for a couple of days rest with his family. He passed away at his mother’s home on December 6, 1988 at the age of 52.

“Mystery Girl” was released posthumously in 1989 and became the biggest selling album of his career. As Paul McCartney said: “He was and always will be one of the greats of rock ‘n roll.”