Barbara Orbison (January 10, 1950 – December 6, 2011) was a German-born United States-based entrepreneur, music producer and publisher, and the second wife of
American musician
Roy Orbison.
Biography
Barbara Anne Marie Wellhöner Jakobs was born in
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on January 10, 1950.
[Barbara Orbison obituary](_blank)
Latimes.com, December 8, 2011; accessed December 22, 2017. Her mother was Friedel Hitz. Aged 18, she met the 32-year-old Orbison when he asked friends to introduce him to her at
Batley Variety Club,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, England, during Orbison's UK tour. A few weeks later, two of Orbison's three sons died in a house fire. Barbara and Orbison married on March 25, 1969, in
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is the largest city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 61,753 at the 2020 census.
Hendersonville is the fourth-largest city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nashville, Murfreesboro, ...
. They divided their time between
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
and
Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...
, bringing up their two sons,
Roy Kelton Orbison, Jr. (born 1970) and
Alexander Orbi Orbison (born 1975).
During the 1980s, she managed her husband's career and was the executive producer of his 1987 album, ''
In Dreams: The Greatest Hits'', plus his January 1988 televised music special, ''
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night''. Following her husband's death on December 6, 1988, she took charge of his business affairs and dedicated herself to promoting his music to subsequent generations.
She worked with friend and fellow artist
Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...
to assemble the posthumous release of the ''
King of Hearts
The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck.
King of Hearts may also refer to:
Games
* The King of Hearts Has Five Sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo
Books
* King of Hearts (''Alice's Adventures ...
'' album in 1992 (an album which was re-issued in 2007 by Sony BMG after they took charge of Virgin's catalog in 2005) as well as other record projects. She co-produced ''Only the Lonely: The Roy Orbison Story'', a European stage
musical.
In late 1993, the family home in
Malibu was destroyed by brush fires. Although she maintained a residence on the
West Coast, she returned to Nashville where she purchased a home as well as a commercial property to house her music publishing business. Her company,
Still Working Music employs songwriters such as
Tommy Lee James
Tommy Lee James is an American country music songwriter and record producer with Still Working Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he is originally from Roanoke, Virginia.
He graduated from Northside High School then attended Radford Uni ...
and
Chase Bryant
Chase Spencer Yaklin, better known by his stage name Chase Bryant (born October 9, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter. Bryant is a family name shared by his grandfather, Jimmy Bryant, who performed with Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings.
In ...
.
Orbison was also involved with charitable causes in aid of the homeless. For
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, in 1990, she produced a Roy Orbison tribute at the
Universal Amphitheatre in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
that raised in excess of $1 million for the city's homeless. She personally funded "Orbison House", a 21-unit residence for the mentally impaired
homeless of Los Angeles.
She produced
Damien Leith
Damien Leo Leith (born 18 January 1976, in Dublin) is an Irish-Australian singer–songwriter. He was the winner of the Network Ten music contest ''Australian Idol 2006''. Since winning the title, Leith has released nine studio albums, four of ...
's album, ''
Roy: A Tribute to Roy Orbison'', which was released by
Sony BMG in
Australia on 15 April 2011 to coincide with
Roy Orbison's 75th birthday.
Death
Orbison was hospitalized from May 2011 until her death from
pancreatic cancer on December 6, 2011. She was buried next to her husband at
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary located in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood, with an entrance from Glendon Avenue.
The cemetery was ...
in Los Angeles. This was followed by a celebration of her life in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
.
References
External links
Still Working Music*
Barbara Orbison interview at timesonline.co.uk"Widow of singer Roy Orbison," Los Angeles Times obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbison, Barbara
1950 births
2011 deaths
American philanthropists
American women record producers
Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
West German emigrants
Immigrants to the United States
People from Bielefeld
Record producers from California
Roy Orbison