Most posthumous projects feel like hollow cash-ins or sentimental karaoke. But try telling that to Roy Orbison’s son, Roy Jr., who just helped reanimate his father’s velvet voice with a 75-piece orchestra, a guitar played by a literal baby, and enough emotional gravity to bend time.
The new album Our Love Still Beautiful pairs the legendary croon of Roy Orbison with the cinematic muscle of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s the first Orbison release in over two decades—and no, they didn’t just slap strings on old tracks and call it a day. “We cut out all the backing tracks,” Roy Jr. says, “rebuilt the tracks from the ground up, added new drums, new guitars, and of course, added the 75-piece orchestra.” No pressure or anything—just resurrecting a ghost in Abbey Road’s Studio Two, the same hallowed room the Beatles used to haunt.
And if that wasn’t bold enough, the project also features three generations of Orbisons on one track. “We chose ‘Pretty Woman’ to be the standout,” Roy Jr. says. “My brother Wesley plays the 12-string, my brother Alex plays drums, and I play guitar.” Then comes the kicker: “Roy Orbison the Third—my son—was 10 months old. We gave him a pick, turned the volume up on the amp, and let him strum. The opening chord you hear on ‘Pretty Woman’? That’s Roy Orbison the Third.” You could call it a gimmick—if it wasn’t so bizarrely wholesome and weirdly badass.
But don’t let the orchestral grandeur fool you—this is a personal project for the Orbison clan. “My dad was protective of his legacy when he was alive, and my mom was after he died,” Roy Jr. says. It wasn’t until both had passed (his mother died on the exact same day, 23 years later, as Roy Sr.) that the family decided to open the vault. “We realized—what are we protecting so much? There’s nothing left to protect. It’s time.”
That “time” has turned into a full-on Orbison renaissance: the album, a new authorized biography (written by Roy Jr. and his brothers), and an upcoming BBC documentary from the same team that made the Springsteen doc. “We’re not afraid anymore,” he adds. “We just try to do things up to the high level of quality that my dad set while he was alive.”
Roy Jr. doesn’t speak like someone cashing in on a name. He talks like someone still awed by the man behind the music—even if that man was his father. “I didn’t realize how special he was until recently,” he laughs. “I mean, we grew up next door to Johnny Cash. I thought everyone in the world was famous.” It’s only now, he says, that he hears new things in old songs—like a vocal fade in “Drove All Night” that mimics the sound of a car disappearing into the distance, or a subtle echo in “Crying” that doubles as a wink to the listener. “I thought he was just singing syllables,” he says, “but no—he’s actually singing the echo. I didn’t get that until I was in my 30s.”
So no, this isn’t just another dusty greatest hits repackage. This is Roy Orbison’s legacy, lovingly rebuilt by the people who knew him best—and who still can’t believe how many secrets are hidden in those soaring, operatic pop songs. “Start with ‘Pretty Woman’ or ‘Crying,’” Roy Jr. says. “If you haven’t heard those, go there.”
And if you hear a baby guitar chord shaking the walls of Abbey Road? That’s just the next Orbison getting started.
Listen to the interview above and then check out "Oh, Pretty Woman" below!
