Supergroups: The Ultimate Musical Mashups
From The Traveling Wilburys to Audioslave, explore how iconic artists joined forces to create timeless music.
Let’s begin by noting that many bands have emerged from the remnants of others that have changed or disbanded. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young were formed from former members of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Hollies. They went on to create a significant amount of music together in various configurations, qualifying them as a supergroup.
Then you could point to Little Feat’s Lowell George, who came from Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, and Richie Hayward, from The Fraternity of Man. Or the Doobie Brothers, when Michael McDonald, who sang with Steely Dan, joined as did former Steely Dan member Jeff “Skunk” Baxter for a time.
That’s just the way the industry works: If you’re good, you’ll likely end up in more than one band in your career.
However, I’m referring more to artists who came together with members of other established groups but recorded only an album or two. Three tops.
For example, look at the Traveling Wilburys—Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison. What a collection of history and talent on one (okay, two) record!
Then there are the one-offs of Superheavy, Mad Season, Temple of the Dog, GTR, or Zwab. More on those and more in a few moments.
There’s a specific fascination with supergroups. Why did they form? Was it a long-term project or a short-term fun experiment to explore different musical avenues with other artists?
If you’re a fan of any artists, it’s a thrill to hear them collaborate with other musicians. And if it’s unexpected, it’s an even better surprise. I remember when the first Traveling Wilburys album was released. We were all astonished and amazed that those five stellar artists chose to come together.
Blind Faith
Around the summer of my 15th or 16th year, I began to hear this incredibly appealing acoustic-style rock song on the radio that caught my attention. It was titled “Can’t Find My Way Home,” and I soon found out it was by a band called Blind Faith. This was likely around 1969 or 1970, and back then, if you wanted to learn about a band, you would browse record stores, keep an eye on rock magazines (which were relatively rare), or ask a friend. In the end, I didn’t learn much about Blind Faith, but I did stay on the lookout for a follow-up album, which never materialized.
Years later, I learned that the band was a one-off, formed by Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker from Cream, Steve Winwood from Traffic, and Ric Grech, who had also been in Traffic and a band called Family.
Wow, there are some heavy hitters there. Naturally, I knew who Clapton and Baker were, and by that point, I was aware that Steve Winwood had been the boy wonder singer of the Spencer Davis Group. I was vaguely familiar with Traffic but wasn’t really a fan, and I had not heard of Ric Grech.
But hey – a group of really great players. It's a Super Group, without a doubt, but only one LP.
Audioslave
Audioslave was formed by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine. I didn’t hear about the band until they had long broken up, and while you could call them a supergroup because of their history, they did indeed stay together long enough to release three albums that combined the best of 70s rock and 90s alternative. Audioslave is still high on my playlist rotation, and to my mind, the big reason for their success hinges on Chris Cornell’s great voice and vocal range and Morello’s rather unconventional guitar solos.
Cornell died at the age of 52 in 2017; the cause was ruled a suicide death by hanging. Morello still is heavily involved in music and hosts a fascinating show (with his mother chiming in occasionally) on SiriusXM. And speaking of supergroups, Tom was also a member of Prophets of Rage, a supergroup formed in 2016 with former members of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and two members of Public Enemy (DJ Lord and Chuck D) and rapper B-Real from Cypress Hill.
Traveling Wilburys
Speaking of supergroups, the Traveling Wilburys have been described as perhaps the greatest supergroups of all (by AllMusic). They were formed in Los Angeles in 1988, originating from an idea discussed by George Harrison (Beatles) and Jeff Lynne (ELO) during the sessions for George’s Cloud Nine album. The band formed to record a bonus single for Harrison’s next European single. Still, the song “Handle With Care” was considered too good to put out as one of George’s B-Side, so the group decided to record a full-length album called Traveling Wilbury’s Vol. 1. After Orbison died of a heart attack at the age of 52, the four remaining members recorded Traveling Wilburys Vol. III.
There’s a story I heard once, and I’m not sure if it was true, but it’s a great one nonetheless, that has Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan driving to Roy Orbison’s house to ask him if he’d join their band. When Roy said yes, as the story goes, the others were as excited as kids at a birthday party that Roy said has, as they all idolized him. “We got ROY ORBISON!!”
Superheavy
Dave Stewart, guitarist and co-founder of the Eurythmics, lived in Jamaica, and he’d hear the sounds of music washing over the waves and trees to his St. Ann’s home and suggested to Mick Jagger that they form a band that had elements of reggae, ballads and Indian music. They enlisted vocalist Joss Stone, Damian Marley, son of Bob Marley, and A. R. Rahman, a singer and multi-instrumentalist from India.
They managed to keep their 2009 and 2010 recording sessions quiet until it was announced in May, 2011. The album, SuperHeavy, was released in September of that year, and included the pair of singles, “Miracle Worker,” a reggae-fused musical journey, and Satyameva Jayathe, a song that combines rock, reggae, soul and Indian Classical music. It’s a Sanskrit phrase meaning “Truth alone triumphs,” which is also India’s national motto. And yes, it’s a banger!
The Highwaymen
If you were going to handpick members to form a country music supergroup, you couldn’t do much better than The Highwaymen. In 1984, the four legendary artists were brought together by producer Chips Moman to contribute vocals to a song written by Jimmy Webb called “Highwayman.” Initially, it was just meant to be a collaboration, but once they heard how their distinct voices complemented each other—each taking a verse to tell the song's story—they realized the magic they had created.
After recording “Highwayman,” which became a massive hit, topping the Billboard Country chart in 1985, they decided to formalize their collaboration under The Highwaymen, inspired by the song. Their debut album, Highwayman, followed, solidifying them as a supergroup.
Here’s a short playlist to check out all the bands mentioned above. Enjoy!