There’s something about a rock supergroup that just makes them a thing to admire. Comprised of musicians of legendary status from other incredibly successful bands, a supergroup’s members come together to make their individual fans’ dreams come true.

Three rock supergroups immediately spring to mind. Cream were formed by Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. However, their actual supergroup status is thrown into doubt when considering the fact that it was only Clapton who had done anything of note prior to the band’s formation.

The second is Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young), who are much closer fitted to the term ‘supergroup’ as all four members had already had incredibly successful careers in the industry before their new group took root. The third band is The Traveling Wilburys, an absolutely iconic group comprised – amazingly – of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.

Tom Petty once revealed the inner dynamics of the Wilburys and the respect they had for one another, particularly in the relationship between Dylan and Harrison.

“Bob really adored George, too,” Petty said. “George used to hang over the balcony videoing Bob while Bob wasn’t aware of it. Bob would be sitting at the piano playing, and George would tape it and listen to it all night. Essentially, George made his own Bob Dylan bootlegs because he loved Dylan so much.”

The Travelling Wilburys first got together in 1988, after George Harrison and Jeff Lynne had collaborated on Harrison’s 1987 album Cloud Nine. Roy Orbison would die in the same year as the band’s formation, and the band released their second studio album together in memory of the passionate American singer.

Petty continued to discuss Harrison and Dylan’s relationship and revealed, “When the Wilburys started, George was so reverent of Bob. At the end of the first day, he said, ‘We know that you’re Bob Dylan and everything, but we’re going to just treat you and talk to you like we would anybody else.’ And Bob went, ‘Well, great. Believe it or not, I’m in awe of you guys, and it’s the same for me’.”

Petty added, “I said to George, ‘That is really amazing how you said that to Bob.’ George goes, ‘I can say those sort of things. But you can’t.’ George adored Bob [and said things] like, ‘Dylan makes Shakespeare look like Billy Joel.’ And George absolutely adored the Wilburys. That was his baby from the beginning, and he went at it with such great enthusiasm. The rest of his life, he considered himself a Wilbury.”