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 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 most successful periods were ...

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 () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

, Germany, on January 10, 1950.Barbara Orbison obituary
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 Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

Variety Club,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, 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 most populous city in Sumner County, Tennessee, on Old Hickory Lake. As of the 2020 census the city's population was 61,753. Hendersonville is the fourth-most populous city in the Nashville metropolitan area after Nas ...

. They divided their time between

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, and

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; ; ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, about west of downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate, its strip of beaches stretching along the Pacific Ocean coa ...

, 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 the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

to assemble the posthumous release of the '' King of Hearts'' 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 Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

. 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 and Chase Bryant. Orbison was also involved with charitable causes in aid of the homeless. For Showtime, in 1990, she produced a Roy Orbison tribute at the

Universal Amphitheatre Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California, within Universal City, California, Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a p ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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's album, '' Roy: A Tribute to Roy Orbison'', which was released by

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 15 April 2011 to coincide with

's 75th birthday.

Death

Orbison was hospitalized from May 2011 until her death from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on December 6, 2011. She was buried next to her husband at

Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary is a cemetery and Morgue, mortuary located in the Westwood, Los Angeles, Westwood area of Los Angeles. It includes a crematory for cremation services. Its location is at 1218 Glendon Av ...

in Los Angeles. This was followed by a celebration of her life in Nashville, Tennessee. Orbison died on the 23rd anniversary of her husband’s death.

References

External links

Still Working Music
*
Barbara Orbison interview at timesonline.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbison, Barbara 1950 births 2011 deaths American philanthropists American women record producers Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California West German emigrants Immigrants to the United States People from Bielefeld Record producers from California Roy Orbison