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Universal Music Publishing Group Signs Catalog of Multi-GRAMMY® Winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Recipient, Recording Industry Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Roy Orbison To Administration Deal Via Publishing Comp Company/Barbara Orbison Music Company


Los Angeles, CA (November 29, 2004) – Universal Music Publishing Group is pleased to announce that they will administer throughout the world, excluding the United States and Canada, Barbara Orbison’s music publishing catalogs (Roy Orbison Music Company/Barbara Orbison Music Company) that are comprised of the classic songs written by Roy Orbison.

The Orbison catalogs encompass many hit songs including, "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Only the Lonely," "Crying," "Running Scared," "In Dreams," and "Blue Bayou."

Through the deal, Universal Music Publishing Group acquires administration rights to a catalog rich with history - legendary singer songwriter Roy Orbison won four GRAMMYs including Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1990 for "Oh, Pretty Woman," Best Country Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal with Emmylou Harris in 1980 for "That Lovin’ You Feeling Again," Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 1988 for "Crying" with k.d. lang and Best Spoken Word Or Non-musical Album in 1986 for Interviews From The Class Of '55 - Recording Sessions. On January 21, 1987 Roy Orbison was inducted into the 2nd Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York by Bruce Springsteen. In October of 1988 Roy Orbison was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and in April of 1989 Roy Orbison was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame by Eric Clapton. In 1998, Barbara Orbison accepted the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award that was bestowed upon Roy posthumously for his unparalleled contribution to the recording industry.

Commented David Renzer, Worldwide President, Universal Music Publishing Group: "Roy Orbison was one of the true pioneers of country/pop-based rock & roll and this is truly a classic catalog. We are thrilled that Barbara Orbison, who is a very savvy publisher in her own right has entrusted UMPG to handle the foreign administration for this prestigious catalog."

Building upon Universal Music Publishing Group’s breath and depth of catalog classics, Orbison made his first widely distributed recordings for Sun Records in 1956 and had a national hit with his first Sun single, "Ooby Dooby." By the late '50s he was concentrating primarily on building a career as a songwriter, his biggest early success being "Claudette" (recorded by the Everly Brothers). Between 1960 and 1965, Roy Orbison would have 15 Top 40 hits for Monument Records, including such ballads as "Running Scared," "Crying," "In Dreams," and "It's Over." Orbison was also capable of effecting a tough, bluesy swagger on "Dream Baby," "Candy Man," and "Mean Woman Blues." His biggest hit was also his hardest-rocking: "Oh, Pretty Woman" which soared to number one in late 1964, at the peak of the British Invasion. Later in his career, the use of the song "In Dreams" in the cult film Blue Velvet helped cement Roy’s music to widely renowned status in the 21st century musical landscape.

Orbison’s songs have been included in such hit films as Pretty Woman, You’ve Got Mail, In Dreams, Love Letter, Man on Fire, Dreamcatcher, Steven Spielberg’s Taken, and For The Love of the Game, as well as placements in advertisements for companies such as ãTarget, ãThe May Department Stores Company, ãToyota, Lee Jeansâ, ãAT&T, ãAOL, ãRenault, Impulseâ Fragrances, ãMcDonald’s, Doubletreeâ Hotels, Jet Petrolâ, ãJohnson & Johnson and Candiesâ Shoes. Along with films and advertisements Orbison’s long-standing Black & White Night Program continues to be the #1 pledge drive program for PBS.

On October 19th Orbison Records has announced that the entire Orbison Records catalog will be reintroduced to U.S stores in 2004 through a deal with Eagle Rock Entertainment and distributed through Red Distribution. Included with the catalog releases is a new package entitled Roy Orbison Hits! Hits! Hits!, featuring twelve of Roy's biggest hits and two bonus tracks of interview material. Also from Eagle Rock comes a new special edition of the Greatest Hits DVD packaged with a Greatest Hits CD. Orby Records will release for the first time ever 4 CDs of the Orby Records Spotlights Sun series. Artists featured in the October series will be Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.



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