Elvis as a member of the Traveling Wilburys? New revelation from The Beatles Anthology
A fascinating piece of music history was revealed in the new Beatles Anthology 9th episode which aired on Disney+ on Friday, November 28, 2025. George Harrison revealed that Elvis Presley almost became a member of the Traveling Wilburys supergroup with George Harrison, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Bob Dylan.
An interview segment with George Harrison in 1995 revealed that after Traveling Wilburys member Roy Orbison (“Lefty Wilbury”) died in 1988, the group was in talks with Elvis Presley’s estate to have Presley sing virtually with the group through a previous recording of Elvis. The ultimate supergroup had a few big hits in the late 1980s including “Handle with Care” and “End of the Line”.
George Harrison explained: “Nobody can replace Roy [Orbison] as Roy, but maybe we should have some other person. And then we thought of Elvis. And somebody had talked to the Elvis estate and they loved the idea of Elvis being in the Wilburys. The idea was that we’d put Elvis onto a multi-track machine and then we’d redo the entire backing – change the chords, change the tune, whatever, and even the lyrics. And we’ll then all sing this song. And then when it comes to the chorus, we bring up the other fader and there’s Elvis singing the chorus.”
It’s possible that Harrison, the de facto leader of the group, was inspired by Natalie Cole’s 1991 hit song, “Unforgettable”, where she sang a duet with a recording of her late father, Nat King Cole. Roy Orbison died suddenly at the age of 52 in 1988, and Natalie Cole’s song was released in 1991.
However, the idea for Elvis (who would be nicknamed “Aaron Wilbury” for his middle name) singing with the Traveling Wilburys sadly never came to fruition: “We never did it because – I don’t know, at that point I thought it seemed a bit too gimmicky,” Harrison explained.
When George was telling Yoko Ono about this idea, she said, “Oh I think I’ve got a tape of John,” which she eventually gave to Paul McCartney when he inducted John Lennon into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Paul, George and Ringo would then use John’s demos to create two new Beatles songs, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love”, for The Beatles Anthology film series which came out in 1995. A third song, “Now and Then”, that Paul, George and Ringo had also worked on but never completed, was eventually finished and released in 2023.
There were several references to Elvis in this 9-part film series on the history of The Beatles. John Lennon and Paul McCartney said how big an influence Elvis was to them. In Episode 1, Paul said: “I remember being in school as a kid and somebody had a picture in one of the musical papers of Elvis. And I just looked at him and thought, “he’s just so good looking. He just looked perfect.”
John said in Episode 1: “When I was 16, Elvis is what was happening. A guy with long greasy hair, wiggling his ass and singing “Hound Dog” and “That’s All Right Mama” and those early Sun records which I think are his great period.”
Paul continued: “That’s it. That is the guru we have been waiting for. The messiah has arrived.”
During the 9th episode, Paul and George were singing together for fun, and they sang Presley’s version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”
A few years later, the idea of singing virtually with Elvis became a reality. Lisa Marie Presley first recorded a duet with her father’s songs in 1997 in honor of the 20th anniversary of Elvis’ death.
She would go on to record 3 more duets with Elvis over the next 30 years. Only one was commercially released. The other three were recorded specifically for the fans at Elvis Week in August during different years. You can listen to them all here.
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Learn about the many behind the scenes connections between The King of Rock and Roll and The Fab Four in the book, Elvis and The Beatles.
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