Watch Roy Orbison give the only public performance of hit song ‘You Got It’

One of the best-known Roy Orbison songs was played live just once by the legendary songwriter.

You Got It, the song which appeared on Mystery Girl, was given just one outing in public as Orbison would die of a heart attack at fifty-two, just weeks after the song was released. Though Orbison would perform the song just once, fans were thrilled to hear the song live, with many looking back on the clip as one of the Pretty Woman songwriter’s finest moments. A post of the clip on Twitter had fans share their love for the song, with many saying the “timeless voice” of Orbison is captured in the video. One user wrote: “Timeless voice, endless impact.” Another added: “True legend – on his own and with The Traveling Wilburys.”

A full performance of the song, posted to YouTube, has also received praise from fans. You Got It was written alongside Traveling Wilburys members Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. The pair wrote it towards the end of 1987 and recorded it in 1988. The song would then be released on January 3, 1989. The song would feature on Mystery Girl, the album Orbison released just a month before his death. His career resurgence thanks to that album continued after Orbison died.

You Got It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male, while the album went to number two in the UK charts. It also cracked the top five of the US Billboard 200.

Those who viewed the You Got It performance suggested the untimely death of Orbison robbed fans of what could have been one of the greatest comebacks in music history. One wrote: “His comeback would’ve been one of the greatest I’m music history, we were robbed.”

Another added: “He went out on top! Jeff Lynn knew his voice and what would work. I do wish he would have been around much longer.” A third wrote: “He went out on top! Jeff Lynn knew his voice and what would work. I do wish he would have been around much longer.”

Others have praised Orbison’s vocal work, with one fan suggesting he had an “insane voice.” Another added: “Roy had a great voice!” A third wrote: “Incredible, other-worldly voice of the gentle genius, Roy Orbison…”

Orbison would have unlikely success in Bulgaria during the 1980s, and was shocked to learn one of his songs was used in the David Lynch classic, Blue Velvet. He said of In Dreams’ use: “I was mortified because they were talking about the ‘candy-coloured clown’ in relation to a dope deal … I thought, ‘What in the world …?’

“But later, when I was touring, we got the video out and I really got to appreciate what David gave to the song, and what the song gave to the movie—how it achieved this otherworldly quality that added a whole new dimension to In Dreams.” The only live performance of You Got It can be found below.