(Credits: Far Out / The Traveling Wilburys)
Sun 11 January 2026 18:30, UK
There was never any sense of competition when it came to the Traveling Wilburys.
As much as the band members loved playing together, the goal was about trying to get the best song for the moment rather than trying to let their ego show every single time they stepped up to the microphone. But when they realised that they had a project on their hands, they started to think about the other superbands that could have given a run for their money if they actually hit the road.
Then again, the term “supergroup” was still relatively new when the Wilburys started making waves. There was no sense that they were going to be one of the greatest bands in the world like Led Zeppelin, but when you have a lyricist like Bob Dylan, a singer like Roy Orbison, and one of the goddamn Beatles as band members, it’s not anyone expected them to turn in some random vanity project. They complemented each other perfectly, but it’s not like the 1980s were lacking in supergroups.
People had seen what Bad English could do when the members of Journey went out without Steve Perry, and while there were great combinations like Sammy Hagar taking over for David Lee Roth in Van Halen, there were also albums by bands that seemed like they were put together by a committee, like Damn Yankees. But you can’t fault any legends trying to come together for the right reasons.
After all, that’s half the reason why Live Aid happened, and while Phil Collins joining Led Zeppelin went over about as well as someone breaking wind in church, it did at least give people the idea of helping with ‘We Are the World’. The song itself probably wasn’t the best offering that Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie could have come up with from a raw writing perspective, but no one could argue with the pure showmanship on display.
And while the star-studded studio session did have Dylan among their ranks, it’s not like the world hadn’t seen this before. George Harrison had already shown everyone what was possible when everyone came together with The Concert For Bangladesh, and while the Wilburys didn’t have any plans to tour or anything, they felt that the idea of expanding their roster for an answer to ‘We Are the World’ would have been a decent idea.
Harrison had already put together a version of ‘Nobody’s Child’ with the Wilburys for charity, so he didn’t see anything wrong with bringing in new members of the family, saying, “[W]e could have the Wilbury B-team. Like We Are the World — we could have We Are the Wilburys! I’d love to do that. Maybe it won’t even be the Wilburys, maybe it will be… the Trundling Wheelbarrows.” But that begs the question: who would be that supposed B-team?
Well, we’d have to look at the original ‘We Are the World’ audience first. Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel would be good frontrunners, and no one would have said no to having someone like Stevie Wonder in their ranks, but there’s probably a way to expand even further. Billy Preston would have certainly fit with the group, but it’s also about the kind of people that fit the Wilburys aesthetic. Madonna may not have been a Wilbury, but Bonnie Raitt certainly could, and it makes too much sense to bring in one of the Eagles as well like Don Henley.
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether the band would have actually made some good music, but Harrison himself was less concerned about the kind of skills that every member had. He knew every member of the band had to be good, but he also wanted to have people that he could hang out with when they weren’t behind the glass.
Related Topics