Bring the Ultimate Traveling Wilburys Tribute Experience to Your Event

The Traveling Wilburys are a music-history phenomenon. Formed in 1988 when George Harrison invited friends George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne to “get together and write some songs,” the supergroup recorded just two albums (Volume 1 in 1988 and Vol. 3 in 1990) but produced an enduring catalog including “Handle With Care,” “End of the Line,” “Last Night,” “Tweeter and the Monkey Man,” “Inside Out,” and “She’s My Baby.” Volume 1 won the 1989 Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, sold more than 3 million copies in its first six months, and remains one of the best-loved supergroup recordings of all time. Beyond the Wilburys catalog itself, the five members are five of the most celebrated artists in modern music: George Harrison (Beatles, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice), Tom Petty (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Roy Orbison (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the operatic voice of “Pretty Woman” and “Crying”), Bob Dylan (Nobel Prize in Literature 2016, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame), and Jeff Lynne (the Electric Light Orchestra mastermind, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame). The catalog connects with virtually every demographic that responds to classic rock, folk rock, country rock, 1960s/70s/80s rock, and singer-songwriter material.

The Traveling Wilburys Revue goes beyond a standard tribute approach in three meaningful ways that no other tribute can match. First, the unique positioning: the original Traveling Wilburys never performed live together. The Revue is delivering an experience the original band never offered, making the show a category-of-one in the tribute world. Second, the catalog breadth is genuinely unmatched. Most tribute acts deliver one artist’s catalog; the Wilburys Revue delivers FIVE major-artist catalogs in a single concert: the Wilburys themselves, plus George Harrison’s solo and Beatles material, Tom Petty’s 40-year solo and Heartbreakers catalog, Roy Orbison’s operatic ballads, Bob Dylan’s songbook, and Jeff Lynne / ELO’s catalog. Buyers get an evening of “Here Comes the Sun,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Pretty Woman,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “Don’t Bring Me Down” delivered in a single show. Third, the band is composed of session veterans with exceptional credentials. Drummer Chris Lockheed (as Jim Keltner) is an Arizona Musicians Hall of Fame inductee who has toured with New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Tubes, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Van Morrison, and Blue Cheer, plus national tours with #1 Johnny Cash tribute Rusty Evans & Ring of Fire. Guitarist “Tom” (as Roy Orbison or rotating roles) is a Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame inductee who has toured the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Canada with Big Brother & the Holding Company (Janis Joplin’s band), Jefferson Starship, and Joan Baez. Steve Love (as Jeff Lynne) leads the 1960s tribute band Back Pages and also plays in Refugee (the Tom Petty tribute).

The timing matters as well. Three of the original five Wilburys are gone forever: Roy Orbison passed away in December 1988 (just months after Volume 1 was released), George Harrison passed in November 2001, and Tom Petty passed in October 2017. A full original-lineup Traveling Wilburys reunion is now permanently impossible, and even a “two of the surviving three” Bob Dylan + Jeff Lynne reunion has never been seriously discussed. The Traveling Wilburys Revue is the only credentialed way to experience this remarkable supergroup’s music performed live in a true full-band format, alongside generous helpings of each Wilbury’s individual solo catalog. For event organizers, that means less guesswork: this is a vetted, family-friendly, multi-generational headliner with sold-out theater bookings, standing-ovation testimonials from PAC programmers, two Music Hall of Fame credentials in the lineup, and catalog breadth that effectively delivers five major-artist tributes for the price of one.