Roy Orbison’s birth chart
Born 23 April 1936, in Vernon, Texas. StarMap has no verified birth time yet.
Taurus Sun · Moon in Taurus or Gemini
Roy Orbison’s zodiac sign and chart, in brief
23 April 1936 was a Thursday: the day Roy Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas. That made Roy a Taurus. The Moon left Taurus for Gemini at about 05:35 local time, which leaves the Moon sign open without a birth time. Roy died on 6 December 1988, aged 52. StarMap has not verified a birth time yet, so the chart is cast for midday on that date and has no houses.
By element the count is five earth, two fire, two water and no air, leaving out the Moon, whose sign depends on the birth time. Fixed signs hold four, mutable signs three and cardinal signs two. Taurus holds a stellium, four planets in one sign: Sun, Mercury, Mars and Uranus. The tightest aspect is Mercury sextile Saturn, about 1.1° from exact at midday. Aspects to the Moon are not counted, because the Moon moves about thirteen degrees in a day. Two planets were retrograde: Jupiter and Neptune. The Moon was a waxing crescent.
StarMap's dataset holds 15 other people born on 23 April, among them John Cena, Shirley Temple and Michael Moore.
See the sky the day Roy was born: the stars over Vernon, Texas, drawn as a star map with the date and the place beneath.
Roy Orbison’s Sun, Moon and rising sign
Sun sign
Taurus
about 3° Taurus at midday
A Taurus Sun builds. Comfort, steadiness and things that last probably matter more to Roy Orbison than novelty, and people tend to trust someone who does not change their mind for show. The growth edge is letting go before something stops working.
Moon sign
Taurus or Gemini
Taurus until about 05:35, then Gemini (local time). Which one depends on a birth time StarMap does not have.
Born before about 05:35: Moon in Taurus
A Taurus Moon feels through the body and its surroundings. On this reading, good food, familiar places and slow evenings are what restore Roy, and sudden change lands hard. Once they feel safe, they can be the steadiest person in the room.
Born after about 05:35: Moon in Gemini
The Moon in Gemini processes feeling by naming it. For Roy, talking, writing and switching perspective are likely ways to settle, and silence can make small worries loud. They probably need people who let them think out loud.
Rising sign
The rising sign changes about every two hours, so it cannot be known without a birth time. The table below shows which sign was rising over Vernon, Texas, at each hour of the day.
Roy Orbison’s rising sign, by birth time
StarMap has not verified a birth time for Roy yet. It shows a birth time only when Astro-Databank rates it AA, A or B on the Rodden scale (AA from a birth certificate or record, A from the person, someone close to them or a news report, B from a biography). Until then, this is the rising sign for every possible time of birth on 23 April 1936, computed for Vernon, Texas.
| Born around (local time) | Rising sign |
|---|---|
| 00:00 to 00:40 | Sagittarius rising |
| 00:40 to 02:40 | Capricorn rising |
| 02:40 to 04:15 | Aquarius rising |
| 04:15 to 05:35 | Pisces rising |
| 05:35 to 06:50 | Aries rising |
| 06:50 to 08:25 | Taurus rising |
| 08:25 to 10:25 | Gemini rising |
| 10:25 to 12:40 | Cancer rising |
| 12:40 to 15:10 | Leo rising |
| 15:10 to 17:30 | Virgo rising |
| 17:30 to 19:55 | Libra rising |
| 19:55 to 22:20 | Scorpio rising |
| 22:20 to 24:00 | Sagittarius rising |
Times are rounded to five minutes. Close to a boundary, a few minutes either way change the answer.
The chart wheel
Drawn for midday on 23 April 1936, with only the aspects that held all day. The Moon may stand up to eight degrees either side of where it is drawn. How to read a chart wheel
Placements
| Sun | 3° Taurus 21' |
|---|---|
| Moon | Taurus until about 05:35, then Gemini |
| Mercury | 17° Taurus 34' |
| Venus | 15° Aries 34' |
| Mars | 15° Taurus 56' |
| Jupiter | 24° Sagittarius 10'℞ |
| Saturn | 18° Pisces 40' |
| Uranus | 5° Taurus 22' |
| Neptune | 14° Virgo 15'℞ |
| Pluto | 25° Cancer 12' |
| North Node | 5° Capricorn 21' |
| South Node | 5° Cancer 21' |
Positions at midday, local time. Without a birth time there are no houses.
Roy Orbison’s planets, sign by sign
Each planet by sign: what the placement is traditionally taken to mean, not a claim about Roy Orbison’s private life.
A Taurus Sun finds purpose in building something that lasts, and Roy Orbison's vitality probably runs slow and steady rather than in bursts. The drawback is a reluctance to change course even when the plan is clearly not working. People with this Sun can stay in one job or one home long after part of them knows it is time to move.
Moon in Taurus or Gemini
Taurus until about 05:35, then Gemini
needs and habits
Born before about 05:35: Moon in Taurus
A Taurus Moon needs routine, familiar food and physical comfort to feel steady from day to day. A sudden change of schedule probably unsettles Roy more than they let on. A good bed, a favourite mug or the same coffee order can turn an unsteady morning around.
Born after about 05:35: Moon in Gemini
The Moon in Gemini runs its daily habits on conversation and mental stimulation, and Roy is likely to settle by talking a worry through rather than sitting with it quietly. A day with no one to talk to can leave them restless. The habit is to message a friend the moment something comes to mind, before deciding what to think about it.
With Mercury in Taurus, Roy is likely to think slowly and thoroughly, and a conclusion once reached is rarely revisited without good reason. The communication style is plain and practical rather than showy. A new idea that clashes with what they already believe may have to wait a while for a hearing.
Venus in Aries loves with immediacy and pursues what it wants without much hesitation, and it values a partner who can keep up. For Roy that suggests an interest that can fade once the chase is over. The pattern is to fall fast and to need a relationship to keep feeling like a choice, not a routine.
Mars in Taurus acts deliberately and sticks with a course once chosen, and its anger builds slowly but takes a long time to cool once it arrives. At times Roy may dig in out of stubbornness rather than conviction. It takes real provocation to make this Mars snap, and the rattled feeling tends to last a while afterwards.
Jupiter in Sagittarius
24° Sagittarius 10' at midday ℞
growth and excess
With Jupiter in Sagittarius, Roy is likely to grow through travel, study and direct experience of things bigger than ordinary life. The excess may be promising more than circumstances can deliver, out of optimism rather than dishonesty. This Jupiter carries a conviction that things will work out, and other people borrow it when theirs runs low.
Saturn in Pisces builds discipline around boundaries, and it usually starts from a habit of carrying feelings that belong to other people. For Roy, the doubt is likely to take the form of guilt for protecting their own time and energy. What this Saturn works towards is a quiet, mature compassion, once it is clear that a boundary and a closed heart are not the same thing.
Uranus in Taurus
5° Taurus 22' at midday
freedom, generational
Uranus in Taurus is a generational placement that Roy shares with many people born within a few years. That generation rethinks ownership, land and what security means, often through technology that unsettles older arrangements. Personally, that may be a reluctance to prize things simply because an older generation did.
Neptune in Virgo
14° Virgo 15' at midday ℞
imagination, generational
Neptune moves slowly, so Roy shares its place in Virgo with people born years either side. The imagination of this generation turns towards service, craft and idealised routines of self-improvement. In one life it can mean chasing an impossibly perfect daily practice.
Pluto in Cancer
25° Cancer 12' at midday
power, generational
Pluto in Cancer dates Roy to an era rather than describing one person. Those born in it live through deep transformation of family, home and nationhood. What an individual may carry is intensity around belonging and who counts as family.
Aspects in Roy Orbison’s chart
How the planets stand to each other, tightest first. Without a birth time the orbs are those at midday, and aspects to the Moon are left out because the Moon moves about thirteen degrees in a day.
Mercury sextile Saturn
about 1.1° at midday
Turning a loose idea into something solid is easier with Mercury sextile Saturn, because Roy Orbison's thinking and sense of structure work together. The clarity is quiet and practical, and it shows most when a plan has to work.
Mercury conjunction Mars
about 1.6° at midday
With Mercury conjunct Mars, thinking and the drive to act are closely linked, so ideas turn into words and decisions almost immediately. It makes Roy quick and direct in conversation, and the discipline is letting a thought settle before saying it out loud.
Mars trine Neptune
about 1.7° at midday
An inspired, almost effortless way of pursuing creative or compassionate goals belongs to Mars trine Neptune, which puts Roy's drive and imagination in step. Energy and vision arrive together, so starting a meaningful project is likely to feel far less daunting than it looks from outside.
Sun conjunction Uranus
about 2.0° at midday
Independence is central to Roy's identity with the Sun conjunct Uranus, along with a resistance to being defined by anyone else's idea of them. It makes them original and hard to predict, and the catch is a restlessness with routines that could serve them well.
Mars sextile Saturn
about 2.7° at midday
Sustained effort feels manageable, not draining, when Mars and Saturn are in sextile, and Roy has that combination of drive and discipline. What results is quiet, dependable follow-through, the kind that gets a long project finished while flashier approaches give out halfway.
Mercury trine Neptune
about 3.3° at midday
Roy probably has a natural gift for metaphor, storytelling and intuitive leaps, the work of thinking and imagination in easy partnership. With Mercury trine Neptune, communicating something hard to put into words comes easily, in a way that other people often find memorable.
The rest, listed without a reading.
- Saturn opposition Neptuneabout 4.4°
- Jupiter square Saturnabout 5.5°
- Saturn trine Plutoabout 6.5°
Taurus Suns born within 2 years of Roy Orbison
Also born on 23 April
How this page is made
Planet positions are computed with the astronomy-engine ephemeris and checked against Swiss Ephemeris. Birth dates and places come from Wikidata; birth times, where StarMap has one, come from Astro-Databank and are shown with their Rodden rating. The readings describe what a placement is traditionally taken to mean. They are written by StarMap for reflection and entertainment, not as statements about the person’s private life. New to charts? How to read a birth chart.
Birth data: Wikidata. StarMap has not verified a birth time yet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on the file page).
StarMap is for entertainment and self-reflection. It does not predict health, money or legal outcomes.