SINGER

Roy Orbison

1936 - 1988

Photo of Roy Orbison

Icon of person Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's music is mostly in the rock music genre and his most successful periods were in the early 1960s and the late 1980s. He was nicknamed "The Caruso of Rock" and "The Big O". Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Roy Orbison has received more than 15,625,369 page views. His biography is available in 57 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 54 in 2019). Roy Orbison is the 95th most popular singer (up from 110th in 2019), the 576th most popular biography from United States (up from 697th in 2019) and the 39th most popular American Singer.

Roy Orbison is most famous for his distinctive voice and his successful career as a rock and roll singer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 16M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.03

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 57

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.97

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.03

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among SINGERS

Among singers, Roy Orbison ranks 95 out of 4,381. Before him are Anatoliy Solovianenko, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Teresa Teng, Steven Tyler, and Harry Belafonte. After him are Dieter Bohlen, Glen Campbell, Robert Plant, Enya, Renata Tebaldi, and Enrique Iglesias.

Most Popular Singers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1936, Roy Orbison ranks 32. Before him are Virna Lisi, David Carradine, Michael Landon, Ferid Murad, Richard Bach, and Georges Perec. After him are Aga Khan IV, Glen Campbell, Tariq Aziz, Robert Woodrow Wilson, Jim Clark, and Burt Reynolds. Among people deceased in 1988, Roy Orbison ranks 12. Before him are Valery Legasov, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Robert A. Heinlein, Chiang Ching-kuo, and Chet Baker. After him are Klaus Fuchs, Nikolaas Tinbergen, Trevor Howard, André Frédéric Cournand, Juan Pujol García, and Abdul Basit 'Abd us-Samad.

Others Born in 1936

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1988

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United States

Among people born in United States, Roy Orbison ranks 576 out of 20,380. Before him are Dennis Ritchie (1941), Steven Tyler (1948), Arthur Compton (1892), John Coltrane (1926), Babe Ruth (1895), and Harry Belafonte (1927). After him are Sidney Sheldon (1917), Stanley Cohen (1922), Matt Damon (1970), William S. Burroughs (1914), Hugh Everett III (1930), and Jennifer Aniston (1969).

Others born in United States

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among SINGERS In United States

Among singers born in United States, Roy Orbison ranks 39. Before him are Diana Ross (1944), Gwen Stefani (1969), Donna Summer (1948), Gloria Gaynor (1947), Steven Tyler (1948), and Harry Belafonte (1927). After him are Glen Campbell (1936), Art Garfunkel (1941), Ariana Grande (1993), Dolly Parton (1946), Laura Branigan (1952), and Kenny Rogers (1938).

American born Singers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous