Shop / Books
Books
There's no mass-market Wilburys biography, the band's own official book was a numbered, hand-signed limited edition of 3,000 copies, most of them long gone. What's left is a mix of a hard-to-find official artifact and excellent biographies of individual members that all cover the Wilburys chapter in real depth.
The official book
Paste SiteStripe embed here]
The Traveling Wilburys
Over 150 previously unseen photographs, handwritten lyric sheets, Polaroids taken by the band themselves, and a foreword from Jeff Lynne. This was a 3,000-copy limited run; expect it to show as hard to find or listed by resellers rather than in fresh stock. Worth checking availability rather than assuming it's in print.
Check Price on Amazon →The best biography of each member
Paste SiteStripe embed here]
George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door
Covers the Wilburys formation in real detail, along with Harrison's spiritual life, HandMade Films years, and everything that made him the band's actual ringleader.
Check Price on Amazon →Paste SiteStripe embed here]
Petty: The Biography
Written by a musician who actually toured with Petty. Covers the Wilburys sessions from the perspective of the group's youngest and, by his own account, most starstruck member.
Check Price on Amazon →Paste SiteStripe embed here]
Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan
Exhaustively researched and unsentimental. Good for readers who want the Wilburys episode placed in the full context of a six-decade career rather than treated as a standalone story.
Check Price on Amazon →Paste SiteStripe embed here]
Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story
Covers the tragedy, the two-decade commercial exile, and the late-1980s comeback that made the Wilburys possible in the first place. The most complete account of Orbison's life currently in print.
Check Price on Amazon →There isn't a comparable standalone Jeff Lynne biography currently in print; his story is best covered on film, see the Mr. Blue Sky documentary on our Related Viewing page.
Looking for the music itself rather than the reading? See Buy the Albums or each member's solo essentials.