The posthumous Roy Orbison album King of Hearts, which originally was released in 1992, will be reissued on October 14 in honor of its 30th anniversary.
The remastered collection, which can be preordered now, will be available on CD, via digital formats and as a limited-edition red-vinyl LP.
King of Hearts is a 10-track collection put together from finished tracks that hadn’t appeared on any of Orbison’s own albums, plus incomplete demos that featured his vocals.
New backing tracks were then added to some of the tunes where needed to prepare them for the new album. Among the songs on King of Hearts is the original version of “I Drove All Night,” which was written specifically for Orbison by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg.
Orbinson recorded his rendition of “I Drove All Night” in 1987, although the track wasn’t released until it appeared on King of Hearts.
King of Hearts also features Orbison and k.d. lang‘s 1987 duet version of his classic 1961 ballad “Crying,” which was recorded for the soundtrack of the ’87 film Hiding Out.
King of Hearts features production work by a variety of notable artists and producers, including Jeff Lynne, The Band‘s Robbie Robertson, T-Bone Burnett, Don Was, Chips Moman, Diane Warren and Albert Hammond.
Orbison co-wrote eight of the album’s 10 tracks, collaborating on some of the songs with J.D. Souther and Will Jennings.
Roy died in December 1988 of a heart attack at age 52.
Here’s the full King of Hearts track list:
“You’re the One”
“Heartbreak Radio”
“We’ll Take the Night”
“Crying” (duet with k.d. lang)
“After the Love Has Gone”
“Love in Time”
“I Drove All Night”
“Wild Hearts Run Out of Time”
“Coming Home”
“Careless Heart” (Original Demo)
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