# Traveling Wilburys
**The Traveling Wilburys** were a British-American supergroup formed in 1988, comprising [George Harrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-harrison), Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and [Jeff Lynne](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-lynne).[1](https://users.iit.demokritos.gr/~k.palaiologos/thymeli/pdf_files/Rowman%20%26%20Littlefield%20-%20Historical%20Dictionary%20of%20Popular%20Music.pdf) Over roughly three years the five recorded two studio albums, *[Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/traveling-wilburys-vol-1)* (1988) and *Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3* (1990), won a Grammy Award, and never gave a single live performance for a paying audience.[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) • [3](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Members | George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne, with session drummer Jim Keltner on the recordings[1](https://users.iit.demokritos.gr/~k.palaiologos/thymeli/pdf_files/Rowman%20%26%20Littlefield%20-%20Historical%20Dictionary%20of%20Popular%20Music.pdf) • [4](https://indexone.ru/upload/file/jodovanifiva.pdf) |
| Origin | A spur-of-the-moment session to record a B-side for Harrison's single "This Is Love" produced "Handle With Care," judged too good for the slot[5](https://www.thepettyarchives.com/archives/newspapers/1980s/1988-11-16-newyorktimes) • [6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide) |
| First album | *Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1* (October 1988), number 3 in the US and number 16 in the UK, over 5 million copies sold worldwide, triple-platinum RIAA certification[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) |
| Grammy | Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1990 Grammy Awards; also nominated for Album of the Year[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) |
| Second album | *Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3* (1990), recorded without Orbison, number 11 in the US and number 14 in the UK; there is no Vol. 2[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) |
| Live record | Not one concert, club gig, or televised performance[3](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/) |
| Reissue | *The Traveling Wilburys Collection* (June 2007) debuted at number one in the UK and number nine in the US, at the time the highest chart debut for a box set[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) |
## Formation and "Handle With Care"
**The origin was a B-side.** The group's first recording came about when Warner Bros asked Harrison to come up with a B-side for "This Is Love," a single from his 1987 album *Cloud Nine*. At the time he and his co-producer Jeff Lynne were in Los Angeles with [Tom Petty](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-petty) and [Roy Orbison](https://www.edgepedia.org/roy-orbison), visiting [Bob Dylan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-dylan)'s home studio, and Harrison enlisted the four of them.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide) The idea of a Harrison-and-Lynne group project predated the session: it was during the making of *Cloud Nine*, which Lynne co-produced, that Harrison first conceived of the band that became the Wilburys.[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/00s/2007/Mix-2007-11.pdf) In February 1988, on the radio show *Rockline*, Harrison had already mentioned almost offhand that his next project might be "an album with me and some of my mates... it's called the Traveling Wilburys."[8](https://thewilburys.com/band/timeline/)
"Handle With Care" was recorded on April 3, 1988, in Bob Dylan's garage in Malibu.[9](https://www.bobserve.com/olof/1988%20How%20Am%20I%20Doing%20Babe%20LETTER.PDF) Petty recalled the writing: "We wrote 'Handle With Care' with all of us sitting on the lawn, pitching in."[10](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Connection/80/1989-Vol-13/Music-Connection-1989-05-29.pdf) The song was written and recorded in a single day, and Harrison decided it was too good to be a B-side. "The only thing I could think of was to do another nine and make an album," he said.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide)
## Recording Vol. 1
The album sessions took place at Dave Stewart's studio in Los Angeles across about ten days in May 1988.[11](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/bands/george-was-our-leader-and-our-manager-he-wanted-to-avoid-all-the-pitfalls-that-a-band-has-he-didnt-want-it-to-be-so-overtly-serious-the-story-of-the-travelling-wilburys-the-star-studded-supergroup-that-made-it-all-look-fun) For each song the five members sat in a circle with acoustic guitars; once a basic track was down, they recorded vocals together in another room, usually after dinner, with session drummer [Jim Keltner](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-keltner) accompanying.[4](https://indexone.ru/upload/file/jodovanifiva.pdf) Overdubbing followed at Westlake Audio in Los Angeles.[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/00s/2007/Mix-2007-11.pdf)
The May sessions were filmed, producing a short 15-minute film titled "Whatever Wilbury Wilbury."[12](https://www.jpgr.co.uk/wx224.html) Footage from the spring 1988 sessions also forms the basis of the documentary *The True History of the Traveling Wilburys*, which runs about 24 minutes and contains a large share of genuine, unposed footage of the five writing songs together in real time.[13](https://thewilburys.com/music/the-true-history-documentary/)
**The name.** Harrison coined the word "Wilbury" for in-studio recording gaffes attributed to faulty equipment, telling Lynne, "We'll bury 'em in the mix."[14](https://www.soundandvision.com/content/traveling-wilburys) The five members adopted fictional identities as half-brothers in a traveling musical family, a running joke that extended to the record label credited on the releases, the Wilbury Record Company.[4](https://indexone.ru/upload/file/jodovanifiva.pdf) • [12](https://www.jpgr.co.uk/wx224.html) The *New York Times* noted that Harrison, who received his OBE from Prince Charles at a Prince's Trust concert, claimed a whimsical family history dating back to the sixth century.[5](https://www.thepettyarchives.com/archives/newspapers/1980s/1988-11-16-newyorktimes)
## Commercial performance and awards
*Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1* was released in October 1988, and after the identity of its makers became clear it rose to number 3 on the Billboard chart, selling two million copies in its first six months.[11](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/bands/george-was-our-leader-and-our-manager-he-wanted-to-avoid-all-the-pitfalls-that-a-band-has-he-didnt-want-it-to-be-so-overtly-serious-the-story-of-the-travelling-wilburys-the-star-studded-supergroup-that-made-it-all-look-fun) It reached number 16 in the UK, went on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide, was certified triple platinum by the RIAA, and spent more than 50 weeks on the US charts.[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) Its two hits were "Handle with Care" and "[End of the Line](https://www.edgepedia.org/end-of-the-line-traveling-wilburys-song)."[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1059527)
At the 1990 [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards) the album won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Album of the Year, losing to [Bonnie Raitt](https://www.edgepedia.org/bonnie-raitt)'s *Nick of Time*.[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) Rolling Stone placed it at number 67 on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the 1980s, and Colin Larkin's *Encyclopedia of Popular Music* described the Wilburys as "the last of the great supergroups."[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/)
## Vol. 3 and disbanding
Roy Orbison died of a heart attack at the age of 52, two months after the release of the first album.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide) The remaining members continued, changing their nicknames as a way of saying things could not be the same without him, and recorded a tribute to their departed "Lefty" in the song "You Take My Breath Away."[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide)
The follow-up was released in 1990 as *Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3*, a deliberately incongruous title, for various reasons there being no Volume 2.[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1059527) It performed more modestly but respectably: number 11 in the US with platinum certification, number 14 in the UK, with "She's My Baby" and "Inside Out" becoming rock radio hits.[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/) The band disbanded after its release.[16](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/04/15/do-supergroups-work-from-cream-to-superheavy-some-of-the-best-and-worst/)
## Why they never toured
Despite the lineup, the band never played a note of its own music in front of a paying audience: no arena show, no club gig, no televised one-off performance.[3](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/) The subject of touring came up repeatedly among the members. Tom Petty recalled, "Every time George had a joint and a few beers, he would start talking about touring... I think once or twice we even had serious talks about it, but nobody would really commit to it," adding, "We never thought we were gonna run out of time."[3](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/) Bob Dylan's touring schedule also shaped both albums' recording windows, since Vol. 1 was tracked in a compressed burst so that Dylan could return to the road.[3](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/)
## Legacy and reissue
The two albums drifted out of print in the mid-1990s as the rights reverted to Harrison, and the records, chiefly the debut, became valuable collector's items while the Harrison estate delayed a reissue.[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1059527) In June 2007 the Rhino label released *The Traveling Wilburys Collection*, overseen by Harrison's estate, with both albums remastered, expanded with bonus tracks, and packaged with the documentary *The True History of the Traveling Wilburys*.[8](https://thewilburys.com/band/timeline/) • [12](https://www.jpgr.co.uk/wx224.html) Upon release, the collection entered the [UK Albums Chart](https://www.edgepedia.org/uk-albums-chart) at number one and the US Billboard 200 at number nine, making it then the strongest opening week ever achieved by a box set, and it has gone on to sell well over a million copies around the world.[2](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/)
The band's filmed output beyond the studio documentary amounts to a handful of music videos, most memorably the "Wilbury Twist" clip, in which [Eric Idle](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-idle) and [John Candy](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-candy) attempt to teach a dance move that never left the video.[17](https://thewilburys.com/band/history/) Commentators have repeatedly treated the group as an exception to the general weakness of supergroups: AllMusic's review argues it is hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup in the classic sense at all, given how they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the 1970s peaked, without the self-important air of most such bands.[15](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1059527) Harrison himself resisted the idea that the group could have been engineered: "If we had tried to plan it, or said: 'Let's get this band with these people in it,' it would've never happened. The thing happened just by magic."[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide)
## References
1. [Traveling Wilburys, Historical Dictionary of Popular Music (Rowman & Littlefield)](https://users.iit.demokritos.gr/~k.palaiologos/thymeli/pdf_files/Rowman%20%26%20Littlefield%20-%20Historical%20Dictionary%20of%20Popular%20Music.pdf)
2. [The Traveling Wilburys' Awards and Legacy, thewilburys.com](https://thewilburys.com/band/awards-and-legacy/)
3. [Why the Traveling Wilburys Never Played a Single Live Show, thewilburys.com](https://thewilburys.com/band/no-live-shows/)
4. [Tom Petty and Roy Orbison (Wilburys session details), indexone.ru](https://indexone.ru/upload/file/jodovanifiva.pdf)
5. [The New York Times, November 16, 1988, The Petty Archives](https://www.thepettyarchives.com/archives/newspapers/1980s/1988-11-16-newyorktimes)
6. [A Really Useful Guide to the Music of George Harrison, Louder](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/george-harrison-album-guide)
7. [Classic Tracks: The Traveling Wilburys, Mix Magazine, November 2007](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Mix-Magazine/00s/2007/Mix-2007-11.pdf)
8. [Traveling Wilburys Timeline: Every Key Date, 1987-2025, thewilburys.com](https://thewilburys.com/band/timeline/)
9. [How Am I Doing Babe? Bob Dylan 1988 chronology, bobserve.com](https://www.bobserve.com/olof/1988%20How%20Am%20I%20Doing%20Babe%20LETTER.PDF)
10. [The Traveling Wilburys, Music Connection, May 29, 1989](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Connection/80/1989-Vol-13/Music-Connection-1989-05-29.pdf)
11. [The Story of the Travelling Wilburys, MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/bands/george-was-our-leader-and-our-manager-he-wanted-to-avoid-all-the-pitfalls-that-a-band-has-he-didnt-want-it-to-be-so-overtly-serious-the-story-of-the-travelling-wilburys-the-star-studded-supergroup-that-made-it-all-look-fun)
12. [Traveling Wilburys, jpgr.co.uk](https://www.jpgr.co.uk/wx224.html)
13. [The True History of the Traveling Wilburys, Explained, thewilburys.com](https://thewilburys.com/music/the-true-history-documentary/)
14. [The Traveling Wilburys: Revisited & Remastered, Sound & Vision](https://www.soundandvision.com/content/traveling-wilburys)
15. [The Traveling Wilburys, AllMusic album review](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1059527)
16. [Do Supergroups Work? From Cream to SuperHeavy, The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/04/15/do-supergroups-work-from-cream-to-superheavy-some-of-the-best-and-worst/)
17. [The Traveling Wilburys: The True Story of Rock's Most Reluctant Supergroup, thewilburys.com](https://thewilburys.com/band/history/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Rock, pop, and metal bands › Musical duos, supergroups, and collaborative projects › Rock and metal supergroups*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license