FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!

Roy Orbison Trivia

Roy Orbison Trivia Quizzes

16 Roy Orbison quizzes and 170 Roy Orbison trivia questions.

The Big O: Part 2

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Do you think Roy Orbison waas just a "good singer" or are you a true fan? Here's your chance to find out as you discover the lyrics to some of his more obscure songs. A mix of multiple choice and yes/no answers.

Tough, 10 Qns, oobydooby, Feb 11 03

Tough
oobydooby
472 plays

The Music of Roy Orbison best quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison is one of the best loved and best remembered singers from the '60s. See if you remember his music as well as you thought you did. Singing the songs will help.

Average, 10 Qns, shipyardbernie, Mar 12 10

Average
shipyardbernie

1361 plays

Song Lyrics for the Roy Orbison Fans best quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison (1936 to 1988) was an American singer-songwriter with many beautiful hit songs. Which lyrics do you remember well enough to be able to name the song title?

Easier, 10 Qns, funnytrivianna, May 13 11

Easier
funnytrivianna

761 plays

Fractured Roy Orbison

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

This quiz gives you ten Fractured Roy Orbison songs. By saying the words out loud, you should be able to work out the real titles required. Good luck!

Easier, 10 Qns, Creedy, Feb 10 14

Easier
Creedy

1085 plays

Life of Roy Orbison great trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

15 Qns

I hope you enjoy my quiz on the life of Roy Orbison, the singer who had one of the most beautiful voices in Rock and Roll.

Average, 15 Qns, LindaC007, Dec 29 19

Average
LindaC007
Dec 29 19
2030 plays

Roy Orbison One-liners

Match Quiz

10 Qns

Ever have a part of a lyric stuck in your head and you can't remember exactly what song it came from? Here are single lines from different Roy Orbison classics. Can you match them to their song?

Average, 10 Qns, babsr, Jan 31 20

Average
babsr

Jan 31 20
333 plays

Uptempo Orbison popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison was my musical hero and arguably one of the best ballad singers of all time. But this quiz is all about his up-tempo recordings. As always, have fun!

Average, 10 Qns, Bob9491, May 04 18

Average
Bob9491
May 04 18
400 plays

A Roy Orbison Retrospective III popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

This quiz deals with Roy Orbison songs that are NOT among the 23 songs that made the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits between 1960 and 1989. From the lyrics, can you identify the songs?

Average, 10 Qns, lowtechmaster, Apr 27 16

Average
lowtechmaster
394 plays

A Roy Orbison Retrospective IV great trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

This Roy Orbison Retrospective includes only a few songs. It centers on Orbison and his career. How many of these questions can you answer?

Average, 10 Qns, lowtechmaster, Apr 30 16

Average
lowtechmaster
416 plays

10.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Series: Roy Orbison popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison possessed one of the purest and most natural voices in rock and roll music. This quiz will test your knowledge on Orbison's music and career.

Average, 10 Qns, ralzzz, Jun 29 08

Average
ralzzz

801 plays

Quick Question

"Ooby Dooby" was the first single by Roy Orbison to chart in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 59. What was the record label?

From Quiz "Uptempo Orbison"

11.

Roy Orbison Songs popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Here's a fun little quiz about some of the popular recordings of the man Elvis Presley called "the greatest singer in the world"!

Difficult, 10 Qns, Fauxnotfaux, Dec 16 17

Difficult
Fauxnotfaux
426 plays

12.

A Roy Orbison Retrospective popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison had 23 Billboard Top 40 Pop Singles hits 1960-1989. From the lyrics cited, all you have to do is name the song that was one of those hits.

Average, 10 Qns, lowtechmaster, Apr 13 16

Average
lowtechmaster
384 plays

13.

The Big O: Part 3

Multiple Choice

15 Qns

Here is a quick run through the history of singer Roy Orbison. His life, loves, and tragedies. A mixture of multiple choice and true/false answers.

Tough, 15 Qns, oobydooby, May 15 07

Tough
oobydooby
514 plays

14.

A Roy Orbison Retrospective II

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Roy Orbison had 23 Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits 1960-1989. From the lyrics given, you only need to select which song was one of those.

Average, 10 Qns, lowtechmaster, Apr 16 16

Average
lowtechmaster
387 plays

15.

Roy Orbison's Hits popular trivia quiz

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

These hits are all from the early 60s.

Tough, 10 Qns, mafekinggal, Apr 10 04

Tough
mafekinggal
1605 plays

16.

The Big O: Part 1

Multiple Choice

10 Qns

Elvis called him the greatest singer in the world and Bruce Springsteen said "Nobody sings like him". Here are lyrics from UK hits by Roy Orbison, but what songs are they from?

Average, 10 Qns, oobydooby, Apr 21 04

Average
oobydooby
813 plays

Roy Orbison Trivia Questions

1. "Ooby Dooby" was the first single by Roy Orbison to chart in the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 59. What was the record label?

From Quiz Uptempo Orbison

Answer: Sun Records

"Ooby Dooby" was written by Dick Penner and Wade Moore, two fraternity brothers at North Texas State University. Roy heard it while attending school there and recorded it for a small Texas label with his band The Teen Kings. Sam Phillips, owner of SUN Records, heard the song and signed them to a recording contract even though he had already rejected Roy the first time he auditioned for the label. They recorded "Oooby Dooby" again for SUN.

2. The lyrics "We'll have lovin' so fine / Magic moments divine /If you'll just say you're mine / I'll love you till the end of time" go with which Roy Orbison song?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective II

Answer: Blue Angel

"Blue Angel" was the second collaboration of Orbison and Joe Melson. It was also the second Orbison song to chart on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits. It ranked Number Nine in 1960.

3. Which Roy Orbison song features these lyrics: "Come on woman, gonna treat you right/ Give you candy kisses every night"?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective

Answer: Candy Man

"Candy Man," written by John S. Hurt, charted at Number 25 on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits in 1961. It was the "B" side of "Crying," which got to Number Two. It is not the same "Candy Man" that reached Number One for Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1972.

4. Own Lea There Loan Lee

From Quiz Fractured Roy Orbison

Answer: Only the Lonely

The 1960 "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. When it was released in that year, it became hugely popular and went as high as number two on the USA charts. Because it was a different sound from the normal hits appearing at the time by other artists, it led to the New York Times describing this operatic rock ballad as having "a kind of clenched, driven urgency". Dear me.

5. "There goes my baby, there goes my heart They're gone forever, so far apart" These are the lyrics from which 1960 Roy Orbison song?

From Quiz Song Lyrics for the Roy Orbison Fans

Answer: Only the Lonely

"Only the Lonely" was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson in 1960 and was Orbison's first big hit. It reached number two on the US Billboard pop music charts and number fourteen on the Billboard R&B charts. The song reached number one in the United Kingdom singles chart. In 1999 "Only the Lonely" received a Grammy Hall of Fame award.

6. In the song "In Dreams", the sandman whispers what?

From Quiz Roy Orbison Songs

Answer: Go to sleep. Everything is all right.

David Lynch chose this song for the soundtrack of his 1985 film "Blue Velvet". In an eerie scene, Dean Stockwell lip-syncs the song in the glow of a shop light with which he mimics a microphone.

7. Name the only Roy Orbison song that was number one in the US and UK from reading these lyrics. "If that's the way it must be, okay, I guess I'll go on home, it's late"

From Quiz The Music of Roy Orbison

Answer: Oh, Pretty Woman

"Oh, Pretty Woman" was number one for three weeks on the US Billboard pop chart and number one for two weeks on the UK chart in 1964. "Blue Bayou" reached number 29 on the US pop chart as the B-side of "Mean Woman Blues" in 1963. As a double A-side, they reached number three on the UK chart. "In Dreams" reached number seven on the US Billboard pop chart in 1963. It reached number six on the UK chart. "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" reached number four on the US pop chart in 1962. It went higher on the UK chart, but got stuck at number two.

8. Roy Orbison was born in the small town of Vernon on April 23, 1936. Which state is the birthplace of Roy Orbison?

From Quiz Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Series: Roy Orbison

Answer: Texas

Vernon, Texas is also home to the Teagarden brothers, Jack and Charlie, most noted for their jazz skills. Jack was a world-class trombone player and his brother Charlie played the trumpet.

9. In the mid 1950's Sam Phillips' Sun Record Label included Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and what other singer who later got together to record the album "Class Of '55"?

From Quiz The Big O: Part 3

Answer: Jerry Lee Lewis

In 1985 Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash got together and recorded the album "Class of '55". One of the songs they sang was "We Remember The King", a reference to one of their contemporaries and also one-time member of the Sam Phillips stable, Elvis Presley.

10. "A time to hear the sun go down and fade away. To see the wind just run away with yesterday. Any place for those who care, ........ is anywhere." (Missing word or words)

From Quiz The Big O: Part 2

Answer: "Zabriski Point"

This song is entitled "So Young" and was featured in the movie "Zabriskie Point", which is a location in Death Valley. It is also the name of a popular band.

11. "It's hard to understand, that the touch of your hand..."

From Quiz The Big O: Part 1

Answer: "Cryin'"

"..Can start me cryin'.. " "Cryin'" entered the UK charts on September 21, 1961, reaching a high spot of 25th place. The B-side was called "Candy Man".

12. Where was Roy Orbison born?

From Quiz Life of Roy Orbison

Answer: Vernon, Texas

Roy Orbison was born on April 23, 1936, in the west Texas oilfield town of Vernon. His father, Orbie Lee, worked on the oil rigs, and his mother, Nadine Orbison, was a nurse. Following his father's job in the oilfields, the Orbison family moved to Wink, another west Texas oil boom town, in 1946. Roy was then in the 4th grade, and he lived in Wink until he left to attend North Texas State University in Denton.

13. Finish this line from 'It's Over' : '______ days before they end, whisper secrets to the wind'?

From Quiz Roy Orbison's Hits

Answer: Golden

A hit from 1964.

14. In which year was Roy Orbison born?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective IV

Answer: 1936

Roy Kelton Orbison was born on April 23, 1936 in Vernon, Texas. His parents were Orbie Lee Orbison, a mechanic and oil well driller, and Nadine (Schultz) Orbison, a nurse.

15. In a song, Roy Orbison sang these words: "I hear the sound of bugles blow / Far away, far away / And if they call then I must go / Who knows where or who can say?" What is the name of the song?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective III

Answer: Distant Drums

The soft haunting melody and words of "Distant Drums" were written by Cindy Walker. The song first appeared in "In Dreams," a 1963 album by Roy Orbison. Distant Drums" is primarily an appeal by a man for "Mary" to marry him "now" because, when he hears the "distant drums" and "the sound of bugles," he anticipates being called away to fight in a war.

16. Which song by Roy Orbison has these lyrics: "Tender nights before they fly / Send falling stars that seem to cry / Your baby doesn't want you anymore"?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective II

Answer: It's Over

Roy Orbison collaborated with Bill Dees to create "It's Over." On the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits in 1964, "It's Over" reached Number Nine.

17. "Maybe tomorrow / A new romance / No more sorrow / But that's the chance / You gotta take" are lyrics from what Roy Orbison song?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective

Answer: Only The Lonely

"Only The Lonely" was the first song by Roy Orbison to appear on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits list. It was also the first collaboration written by Orbison and Joe Melson, and it peaked at Number Two in 1960.

18. "I was alright for a while I could smile for a while But I saw you last night" These sad lyrics are from which mournful 1961 Roy Orbison song?

From Quiz Song Lyrics for the Roy Orbison Fans

Answer: Crying

"Crying" was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison released the song in 1961 and it soared to the number one position on the US Cashbox chart. It reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts. In a duet by Roy Orbison and k.d. lang, "Crying" was released again in 1987. As a result, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals that year.

19. "Mean Woman Blues" finds Roy singing about a woman with ruby lips and shapely hips. He sings, "Boy she makes old ___". What's the missing phrase?

From Quiz Roy Orbison Songs

Answer: Roy half flip

Orbison's version of the song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It came out in 1963.

20. Roy Orbison, unlike many singers, used his real name as his stage name. What was his middle name?

From Quiz The Music of Roy Orbison

Answer: Kelton

Roy Kelton Orbison was born on April 23, 1936. Incorrect choices: Charles Weedon Westover was better known as Del Shannon (biggest US hit "Runaway", US Billboard pop chart number one and UK chart number one). Charles Hardin Holley was called Buddy Holly (biggest US hit "That'll Be The Day", US Billboard pop chart number one and UK chart number one). Charles Eugene Boone went by the name Pat Boone (biggest US hit "Love Letters in the Sand", US Billboard pop chart number one and UK chart number two).

21. In 1956, Roy Orbison released his first hit on the Sun Record Label. Can you name the song that introduced the nation to Roy's unique sound?

From Quiz Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Series: Roy Orbison

Answer: Ooby Dooby

"Ooby Dooby" was Orbison's only real hit at Sun Records. After three more Sun releases flop, Orbison leaves the label to move his career to Nashville, TN.

22. What was Roy's middle name?

From Quiz The Big O: Part 3

Answer: Kelton

Aaron was the middle name of Elvis Presley. Orbie Lee was Roy's father's name, and Grady was Roy's older brother.

23. "Morning comes into my room through pretty purple cutains, and looks upon a man so satisfied. I hold a woman in my arms and watch her while she's sleeping, and I know that ............"

From Quiz The Big O: Part 2

Answer: "I'm The Man On Susies Mind"

"I'm The Man On Susies Mind" was on the 1973 album "Memphis" which also features the song "Danny Boy". If you listen to only one Roy Orbison song again, make it "Danny Boy"!!

24. "...Don't you cry, just because he said goodbye. Oh ah ha, no don't cry."

From Quiz The Big O: Part 1

Answer: "Blue Angel"

This was Roy's second big hit in the UK, entering the charts in October 1960 and staying in the charts for sixteen weeks.

25. "But they don't give awards / And there's no praise or fame / For a heart that's been broken / Over love that's in vain": which Roy Orbison song features these lyrics?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective III

Answer: (I'd Be A) Legend In My Time

The great Don Gibson wrote "(I'd Be A) Legend In My Time. Roy Orbison's version appeared first in his 1961 album "Lonely And Blue." The song is one of heartbreak and loneliness. The singer would be "a legend in my time" if "tears and regrets," "a heart that's been broken," and "loneliness" were accorded "world acclaim."

26. In 1961, which song by Roy Orbison had these lyrics: "I was all right for a while, I could smile for a while / But when I saw you last night, you held my hand so tight / As you stopped to say hello"?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective II

Answer: Crying

"Crying" was another collaboration between Orbison and Joe Melson. Although most would consider it one of Orbison's signature songs, it only got to Number Two on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits.

27. In 1963 Roy Orbison had a hit song with these lyrics: "Well I ain't braggin', it's understood / Everything I do, well I sure do it good." Which song was it?

From Quiz A Roy Orbison Retrospective

Answer: Mean Woman Blues

Claude Demetrius wrote "Mean Woman Blues" which was sung by Elvis Presley in the film "Loving You"; helater released it on an EP. Several other versions exist, including one by Jerry Lee Lewis. Roy Orbison's version reached Number Five on the Billboard Top 40 Pop Hits list.

28. "I guess I'll go on home, it's late There'll be tomorrow night, but wait What do I see?" In which 1964 Roy Orbison song does he growl these lyrics?

From Quiz Song Lyrics for the Roy Orbison Fans

Answer: Oh, Pretty Woman

In 1964, Roy Orbison and Bill Dees wrote "Oh, Pretty Woman", which stayed in the number one position on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. In 2004, "Rolling Stone" magazine listed "Oh, Pretty Woman" on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

This is category 5464

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, take trivia quiz

Top 10% Rated Quiz, test trivia quiz

Top 20% Rated Quiz, popular trivia

A Well Rated Quiz

= added recently,

= Editor's Pick

= FunTrivia Editor

= Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

· All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.