The 4 Best Pop Supergroups Of All Time

When it comes to some of the best supergroups of all time, there are a lot of them to choose from, whether it's Derek and the Dominos, consisting of Eric Clapton and Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band, or Them Crooked Vultures, which includes Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. For this one, we selected the best pop supergroups ever assembled, whether those groups released pure pop material or achieved pop success.

Some of these groups were chosen by us because of how much individual star power their members had before teaming up, and others were selected because of the impact their songs had on the charts or in other ways. We also chose these supergroups because they shifted away from the music they made in their primary groups, creating a whole new sound for themselves, which isn't always an easy feat. The sad part is that none of these supergroups are still together, and they haven't released music in some time — so this list also celebrates a very specific part of music history.

The British supergroup Electronic consisted of New Order's Bernard Sumner and The Smiths' Johnny Marr, and they saw a good deal of success right out of the gate with their first-ever single, "Getting Away With It," released in 1989. The dreamy-sounding song features the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant on background vocals, while Chris Lowe contributed to its synth bassline. The single peaked at No. 38 on Billboard's Hot 100 and climbed higher on the U.K. charts, reaching No. 12.

But the supergroup came to be years before the chart success, when Sumner was working on the British group Quando Quango's LP, and Marr was contributing guitar parts. The thing is, Electronic was supposed to be a quick, short-lived endeavor, but the strong reception of "Getting Away With It" motivated the duo to record their eponymous 1991 debut LP. Their follow-up album was 1996's "Raise the Pressure," which has contributions from Kraftwerk's Karl Bartos and Primal Scream's Denise Johnson. The group then released their third LP, "Twisted Tenderness," in 1999.

Of course, Electronic made music that was far different from the sound they achieved with their respective bands, as each album shows their love for club music. Sumner spoke about that deep level of affection with Telekom Electronic Beats and explained why he finds club music so special. "I'm coming ever closer to the realization that the whole point of dance music is to forget — it's escapism, forgetting about seriousness. A moment of freedom. Dancing to forget," he said. But it's safe to say that people will never forget about Electronic and their overall music contribution.

Big-name artists coming together to support an important cause has created some of the best supergroups of all time, whether it was Band Aid, consisting of artists like Sting, George Michael, and Bono, to help with Ethiopia's famine crisis, or Northern Lights, whose members included Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, and Gordon Lightfoot. But probably the best-known of these charity groups is USA for Africa, thanks to their smash hit "We Are the World," which sold 7 million copies and raised over $80 million to support relief efforts on the African continent. 

The sheer star power of USA for Africa is breathtaking, as the list of artists includes Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and Tina Turner, to name a few. Meanwhile, other superstar acts, like Prince and The Revolution, as well as Journey's Steve Perry, contributed previously unreleased songs to the "We Are the World" album, proving that an all-hands-on-deck approach was used to assist Africa.

But besides the financial assistance that the "We Are the World" single provided, it also gave music fans a one-time treat: hearing all those huge acts together in one song and seeing them in that unforgettable, once-ubiquitous music video.

In 1981, Robert Plant decided to go back to his first love. No, he didn't return to his first girlfriend or crush, but to classic American R&B and blues, and he did it by forming the supergroup The Honeydrippers. Over the years, members included Plant's Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page, The Yardbirds' Jeff Beck, Judas Priest guitarist Ernest Chataway, Nile Rodgers, Paul Shaffer, and Andy Silvester of the British blues band, Chicken Shack.

The supergroup recorded only one project, 1984's "The Honeydrippers – Volume One," and achieved pop success with the song "Sea of Love," which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The Honeydrippers then scored another hit with "Rockin' at Midnight," and that song secured the No. 25 spot on the charts, probably leading many to think a second project was on the way. Plant did, in fact, plan to record a follow-up but changed his mind after Ahmet Ertegun, who signed Led Zeppelin, died in 2006. Ertegun gave Plant ideas on what old R&B and blues songs to record for the supergroup, and he would also relay interesting tidbits about the artists who recorded them.

"We agreed to carry on and create a Honeydrippers thing a little bit later on in 2007," Plant explained to Billboard, referring to himself and Ertegun. "He was suggesting material and stuff like that. I knew he was thrilled with the idea of it, and so was I ... I would only do it because I wanted the whole rapport with him and his history."

Some supergroups are so star-studded that they only have to release one song to be considered one of the best supergroups of all time. That's certainly the case with Dionne Warwick & Friends, who was made up of Warwick, of course, as well as Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Gladys Knight. The group recorded the heart-touching cut "That's What Friends Are For," released in 1985, and all of the proceeds were given to amfAR, an AIDS research organization. The single spent a total of 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the No.1 spot for four weeks.

The music video was also incredibly popular, and many probably have the image of the four superstars singing side by side burned into their brains. In the end, "That's What Friends Are For" — which was first released by Rod Stewart in 1982 — ended up making a reported $3 million for amfAR, further proving that getting legendary singers together for a cause can be extremely fruitful.

Warwick talked about the song with People in 2019 and revealed that she got John on it after running into him in a Beverly Hills supermarket just one day before the recording session. "I said, 'I'm recording tomorrow and I need you.' That's how simple it was," she explained.