Twenty-one years after his untimely death at age 52, Roy Orbison received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday. The legendary rock and roll singer-songwriter is more than deserving of a spot, though the knowledge that a fee of $25,000 must paid to the Hollywood Historic Trust for installation and maintenance tarnishes the honor a tad (“greats” like Judge Judy and the Olsen Twins also have stars).

But now, in front of the famed Capitol Records tower at Hollywood and Vine, Roy Orbison has taken his rightful place near the stars of John Lennon and George Harrison (though he more popular at the time, Orbison opened for The Beatles in England). The ceremony was attended by Orbison’s widow, Barbara, and his three sons, plus musicians who’d worked with Roy and other celebrity fans: producer Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, Dwight Yoakam, Phil Everly, Dan Akyroyd, Chris Isaak, and Jason Mraz. Harrison’s widow Olivia was also on hand, as was filmmaker David Lynch, credited with kick-starting Orbison’s late-career resurgence by featuring the song “In Dreams” as the centerpiece of his 1986 film, Blue Velvet.

When Orbison died of a heart attack in December 1988, he was enjoying success as a member of The Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup that included Harrison, Lynne, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan. Working with many of the same players (and their associates), Orbison completed an album, Mystery Girl, which received a posthumous release the following February.

Lead single “You Got It” was Orbison’s last Top 40 hit, reaching #9 in April, and I love that tune lots, but I kept rewinding my Mystery Girl cassette to hear another song, “The Comedians,” written by Elvis Costello. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it was only last night that I discovered “The Comedians” had first appeared on Costello’s 1984 album with The Attractions, Goodbye Cruel World.

In the liner notes to Mystery Girl, “The Comedians” carries a 1988 copyright, and all these years I’d assumed that like many of the album’s other tracks, the song was an entirely new composition. Instead Costello revisited his earlier song for Orbison’s comeback, retaining only the chorus and melody. Deeming Goodbye Cruel World the “worst album of my career,” perhaps this rewrite was Costello’s way of righting a previous wrong. The rework more than works, as Orbison’s pitch-perfect performance makes “The Comedians” entirely his.

T-Bone Burnett produced the track and contributes guitar, with another favorite of mine, Mitchell Froom, on piano. But it’s the song’s string arrangement, credited to Mike Utley, that really takes Costello’s story of cruel heartbreak (set atop a stopped Ferris Wheel) and makes it classically oh-so-Roy. Hear here:

Purchase Roy Orbison – “The Comedians” via iTunes, Amazon MP3 (ignore the “Live Version” mislabeling).