TIL people assumed Roy Orbison was blind.
I have never even had the passing thought that he was blind.
Is it assumed he was blind? Hadn’t heard that before personally
Yep, plenty of folks believed he was blind.
You believed he was blind 🤣
A simple Google search will tell you that it’s a common misconception.
Yes, we know Google is blind, duh.
Is there any other evidence other than sunglasses? Were there prior internet discussions about his vision abilities, or lack thereof?
Yes, there have been plenty of things across the years. I’m not linking Reddit, but a quick search online will show that it’s a pretty common misconception.
It’s in his wiki bio under public image:
The sunglasses led some people to assume he was blind.[93]
The source is some old “Top 10 Oldies Myths” article from About.com. Never cite wikipedia. Cite the source.
In all my years, I’ve never heard a single person say they ever thought he was blind. I have a really hard time believing this was ever commonly believed.
I’m not disputing that you might have believed it and that some other people might have believed it, too. It’s just, I doubt it was a common thing.
If he were blind though, Pretty Woman would have a different feel
I always thought that.
Not blind. Just cool af
In the old days, before the internet, stupid people would say he was blind and stupid young people like me would believe it. I never cared enough to fact check it in the new days.
Orbison sang so Bono could warble.
Funny story, Bono fell asleep listening to the Blue Velvet soundtrack and dreamed he heard a Roy Orbison song. Turns out it didn’t exist. So he tries to recreate it, and comes up with “She’s A Mystery to Me,” which he happened to be carrying around on a cassette when he bumps into Orbison by accident at a function. Bono nervously plays it for Orbison like a high schooler fumbling through a presentation due to star shock, and Orbison agrees to record it. Tl;dr that’s why it sounds like a U2 song fronted by Orbison.
He was from the mirror universe, got it!
TIL somebody besides my wife thought that Roy Orbison was blind.
