Roy Orbison’s sons share new song with dad on TV show

Roy Orbison died of a heart attack in Nashville in 1988. And 26 years later, his sons got the chance to sing with him.

Fans can hear that song and see how it happened on Monday’s episode of the new reality series “Strange Inheritance.” The show was filmed in Nashville and at Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville and will air at 8:30 p.m. on Fox Business Network.

Orbison’s sons — Wesley Orbison, Roy Orbison Jr. and Alex Orbison — were children when he died and grew up dreaming of singing with their father. After Orbison’s wife, Barbara, died in 2011, the sons inherited their father’s song catalog. As the 25th anniversary of his album “Mystery Girl” approached, the men decided to do a commemorative deluxe edition of the album on which they hoped to include previously unreleased material.

The brothers talked about the search for the unreleased songs — particularly one called “The Way Is Love” — on “Strange Inheritance.”

They remembered their dad singing “The Way Is Love” around their home when they were growing up, so the song had sentimental value. They set out to find a recording of it, and after weeks of sifting through recordings, they succeeded. The sound quality was poor and it had to be restored, but once it was, Roy Orbison Jr. said in the show, it was “just like hearing an old friend.”

After they received the restored song, the brothers went into the Cash Cabin Studio and, with the help of childhood friend John Carter Cash, recorded vocals, guitar and drum parts to be included in the version of the song destined for “Mystery Girl Deluxe,” which is available now.

“I think actually the parents would just look down at us (like) we’re still just kids playing around, playing the big boys game,” said Roy Orbison Jr.