A country music and rock icon has died at 91. Joe Melson has sadly died. Melson was both an artist and songwriter, known for his collaborations with Roy Orbison.
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He co-wrote songs such as "Only the Lonely," Crying," "Running Scared," "Blue Angel," and "Blue Bayou." The two made for quite the pair.
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Orbison's Facebook page revealed that the country music and rock icon passed away at the beginning of the month."On July 1st, we said goodbye to the man who heard, in Roy, a voice the world didn't know it needed yet," the post read. "In 1959, a young songwriter named Joe Melson tapped on the window of Roy's car in West Texas. Roy was sitting there, guitar in hand, working out a melody the way he often did. That knock on the glass changed everything. Joe heard something in Roy — a voice built for heartbreak, for the operatic, for songs that didn't just tell as story but ached. What followed was one of the great songwriting partnerships in America."
Country Music and Rock Icon Dies
The group noted that Melson played an important role in Orbison's career.
"Songs that didn't just chart, they invented a sound," the post continued. "It was Joe's voice you hear on that famous 'dum, dum, dum, dumby doo-wah' opening 'Only the Lonely,' setting the stage for Roy to soar. Joe used to call his songs 'mood elevators.' He and Roy built over 120 of them together."
During his life, the singer and songwriter received his own acclaim and acknowledgement.
"Joe was rightfully inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018, a long-overdue recognition for a man some called the most unsung hero in songwriting," the statement continued. "But to our family, he was something simpler and dearer: the friend who saw what was possible in Roy before the rest of the world did, and who never stopped being proud of what they built together. We send our love to Joe's family, and our deepest gratitude for a partnership that gave the world 'the Roy Orbison sound.' Rest easy, Joe. Thank you for hearing it first. - The Orbison family."
The country music and rock icon died of natural causes.
