WINK, Texas — West Texas has plenty of great marching bands to go along with Friday night lights, but when it comes to music, one man stands above the rest.
Out in Wink, Texas, a museum honors the great Roy Orbison -- a singer-songwriter whose music career started in the small town before reaching stardom.
“I don’t know of any place in this immediate area that had somebody famous like Roy," said Barbara Sabonya, a volunteer at the Roy Orbison Museum in Wink.
While the glasses Roy Orbison wore garner attention, it was something else that speaks volumes.
“I had a guy from Monahans a couple of years ago and said he remembers being at home on a Saturday afternoon and a friend of his called on the phone and said, ‘you need to turn on the TV and listen to this guy – he’s got a phenomenal voice,'" Sabonya said.
Orbison went to Wink High School and that’s where it all started.
“He formed his first band here in Wink -- the 'Wink Westerners' – country western," Sabonya said.
From there, they would become the "Teen Kings," and in the 1960s Orbison would enter the rock and roll spotlight.
“One of our favorite quotes – Elvis Presley said he was the best singer of all time," Sabonya said.
Though success was had on the stage, Orbison’s music might have been influenced by the loss of his first wife in a motorcycle accident and two of their three kids in a housefire.
“To me, all of his songs are kind of sad and I think because he did have such a sad life losing his wife and a couple of kids – that’s got to take a lot out of your heart," Sabonya said.
Orbison reached worldwide popularity, and back in Wink, Sabonya has seen that.
“I personally have met people from Australia, New Zealand, lots of people from Germany, England, the Netherlands," Sabonya said.
One display even came from the estate of a lady in the United Kingdom.
“When she passed away her son called one of the other ladies at the museum and said it was always his mother’s wish that her items be displayed here in Wink, Texas," Sabonya said.
There is much to see inside the museum.
It’s a place unique to Wink, opened 35 years ago -- one year after Orbison’s death in 1988.
As older generations who knew him fade away, the hope is Orbison’s legacy won’t do the same.
“Keep the memory alive – that’s my mission," Sabonya said.
If you would like to visit the Roy Orbison Museum, click here.