Tami Neilson Pays Tribute To Roy Orbison With “Foolish Heart”

[Cover photo credit to Alexa King Stone]

Tami Neilson is a native Canadian who lives with her family in New Zealand, and who grew up on the road, traveling North America in a motor home with her family band, The Neilsons. Now, she reaches into her own history with her latest single “Foolish Heart,“ a song inspired by Roy Orbison. It hails from her upcoming album, Neon Cowgirl, out July 11th, 2025.

The song’s lush string arrangements call to mind the epic sound of some of Orbison’s ’60s hits and was performed and recorded live in one take in one room. Neilson is also releasing an accompanying video for “Foolish Heart,” also recorded in one take.

Neilson, who’s father’s band supported Roy Orbison on tour, says:

I grew up with a photograph of Roy Orbison cradling me in his arms, tucked into the pages of my baby book. I was just an infant when my Dad played a venue with him. When he met him backstage afterward, he asked if Roy would mind holding his new daughter while he snapped a photo of us. Roy’s face lit up with delight and he happily complied. I like to think of this moment as my true christening. A tiny dusting of his magic falling onto my bald little baby head, a seminal moment of musical destiny. Driving past his old house in Nashville, I felt a deep sadness, reflecting on the tragedy and heartbreak that plagued him in his short life and this song poured out of me. I named the demo ‘Orbiting Orbison’ — that’s as close as we can get to reaching his greatness.

The video is meant to evoke the loneliness of the performing life which is the life the audience never sees:

I wanted to capture a true-to-life moment that performers experience after they walk off stage from the applause and connection of thousands of people to being completely alone in silence as we remove the layers of artifice. It’s how we all feel when we can remove our brave faces and allow ourselves to fall apart and release the pain we carry. This is one take, made completely by humans, with their foolish hearts beating in their chests.