The Travelling Wilburys
If you’re a music buff then you should know most of these names. What happens when you put Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty together in a room? You get a crazy supergroup known as The Travelling Wilburys. They recorded two albums, in 1988 and 1990. The second album didn’t have Orbinson though, he died before the recording started. Listen to End of the Line and you’ll know why these guys are just brilliant.
The Highwaymen
This is another supergroup worth writing home about, especially if you’re a country fan. From 1985 to 1995, outlaw country was the keyword, a sub-genre that became famous because of the collective efforts of these fine gentlemen - Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. Three albums later, these great individual artists were also country music’s best ever supergroup. Their first album, Highwaymen, from where the group got the name, is still the best.
Gorillaz
Damon Albarn became famous with the band Blur, but he has done a lot of things on the side. Nothing will ever get bigger than Gorillaz, a virtual band created by Albarn’s musical genius and the artwork provided by Tank Girl comic man Jamie Hewlett. Gorillaz didn’t just exist on video. They even played Glastonbury. And that also made Damon Albarn the only man to headline at Glastonbury with two different bands, two years in row. Oh, Gorillaz albums have gone platinum and been nominated for the Grammys.
The Raconteurs
After leaving The White Stripes, Jack White concentrated on his solo career but also branched out and formed The Raconteurs along with three other musicians from different bands. In some ways, this was a cult supergroup. The song, Steady As She Goes and others were instant hits, conjuring up images of a modern day Led Zeppelin “ Heavy guitar diffs, hard drumming and bassline grooves that hit you in the right spot. Interestingly, The Raconteurs toured as The Saboteurs in Australia. They have since split and Jack White now has another side project, The Dead Weather.
The Dead Weather
While The Raconteurs were great, The Dead Weather deserves to be on this list for one simple reason. Jack White makes great music alone or with a bunch of guys, but pair him up with some feminine guile and you get an explosion of aural genius. Enter Allison Mosshart from The Kills. The Dead Weather is so good that six years after they formed, they just released their third album at the end of September. So much for a ‘side project’, right?
