Joan Jett is an originator, an
innovator, and a visionary. As
the leader of the hard-rocking
Blackhearts, she's had eight
platinum and gold albums and
nine Top 40 singles, including
the classics "Bad Reputation," "I
Love Rock 'N' Roll," "I Hate Myself
For Loving You," and "Crimson
and Clover." She sits at the head
of her own independent label,
Blackheart Records. Jett has
acted in movies, including
1987's Light Of Day, with Michael
J. Fox and Gena Rowlands, and in
a Tony-nominated Broadway
musical, The Rocky Horror Show.
As a producer, she has overseen
albums by Bikini Kill, Circus
Lupus, and the Vacancies, as well
as the Germs' LA punk
masterpiece, GI. Jett was even
one of only two women named
to Rolling Stone magazine's list
of the 100 greatest guitar
players of all time.
In the end, though, Joan Jett's life
has been dedicated to one goal
and one goal only - rocking the
hell out of every listener she can
reach. "I remember times when I
was at shows and the person
onstage locked eyes with me,"
she recently told Esquire
magazine. "And in that moment,
everything was right with the
world. I think that's part of my
job, to create these thousands of
moments every night."
Since co-founding the
Runaways, the pioneering all-girl
punk quintet, at age 15, Jett's
determination and drive have
kept her in the public eye. This
year, however, her profile will
skyrocket yet again, with the
release of both a long-awaited
feature film telling the story of
the Runaways and a new, two-
disc Greatest Hits collection.
The Runaways is based on lead
singer Cherie Currie's book Neon
Angel. Kristen Stewart, star of the
Twilight series films, plays Jett,
and her fellow A-Lister Dakota
Fanning portrays Currie. The
movie chronicles the band's
early years; formed by teenage
girls living near Hollywood, CA.,
the Runaways became the first
all-girl band to break into the
world of arena-filling hard rock
acts.
After the success of their first
single, "Cherry Bomb," the
Runaways toured with such acts
as the Ramones, Cheap Trick, and
Tom Petty. But in Japan, the band
became huge stars - their arrival
for a set of shows in 1977 was
like Beatlemania all over again.
During the Japanese tour, Currie
began to struggle, and she left
the band when they returned
home - but Jett decided to keep
fighting the rock & roll fight,
with the Runaways and then on
her own.
Jett has been close to the project:
She serves as an executive
producer on the film, and she
has described Kristen Stewart as
being "like a little sister." For her
part, the young actress has said
of Jett that "her story's
important - it's an incredibly
triumphant feminist story,
really."
The two discs of the Greatest Hits
set, meanwhile, present twenty
blazing tracks from Jett's three-
decade-plus career. From "Cherry
Bomb" through her smashes in
the '80s and '90s, all the way up
to the recent favorite "A.C.D.C.,"
it's a comprehensive look at one
of rock's most iconic figures.
In addition, the compilation will
feature eco-friendly packaging
(100% recycled paper and
biodegradable trays). Jett, who
has been dedicated to protecting
the environment for most of her
life, couldn't be more thrilled to
be offering a "green" effort.
"I've always appreciated nature,"
she says, "trees, grass, birds, sun,
and even insects. I obsessively
recycle. I almost never turn on
lights; I pretty much live in the
dark. I don't use a lot of water.
I'm a vegetarian, so I avoid
contributing to the major
environmental damage that the
meat industry creates. I hope
that soon we can make sure that
everything we do is earth-
friendly."
Of course, the hits collection will
be released through Jett's own
Blackheart Records, a label she
founded in 1980 - which made
her the first female artist to own
and operate an independent
record company. She and her
longtime songwriting partner/
producer Kenny Laguna created
Blackheart after being rejected
by 23 different labels when she
was trying to release "I Love
Rock n Roll," after she parted
ways with the Runaways. (The
song went on to spend eight
weeks at Number One in 1982,
and remains one of Billboard
magazine's top thirty songs of all
time.)
Blackheart Records is currently
home to such up-and-coming
groups as San Antonio-based
female threesome Girl In A Coma
(Both Before I'm Gone) and Los
Angeles' pop-punk trio the
Dollyrots (Because I'm
Awesome). The label continues to
add new artists to its roster.
"I keep my eyes open [for new
acts to sign] all the time when
I'm on the road," says Jett. "We
made Blackheart Records what
we wanted it to be. It's a place
where musicians can feel
comfortable, both in a work
environment and on an artistic
level."
Since the release of Sinner in
2006, Jett has continuously
toured across the globe,
including a summer as a
headliner on the Vans Warped
Tour and stints alongside such
bands as Aerosmith. Her music
has become a permanent force
in mainstream culture. Faith Hill
sings "I Hate Myself for Loving
You" as the theme for NBC's
Sunday Night Football, and "Bad
Reputation" is the theme for the
hit show American Chopper.
Jett’s version of "Love is All
Around," the theme from the
Mary Tyler Moore Show, became
a popular anthem for women's
sports. Her songs have also been
featured in countless films,
including Shrek, Charlie's Angels,
and Monster.
Joan Jett has spent her lifetime
breaking barriers and
challenging expectations. She’s
fought hard for all of her historic
accomplishments, yet she
remains humble and
appreciative.
"I've had a blessed career," she
says. "I consider myself so lucky
to have been able to do things
my own way."
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts
Thursday, March 11, 2010
led zeppelin
"Led Zeppelin"
Early days (1968–1969) With
their first album not yet
released, the band made their
live debut under the name
"Led Zeppelin" at the
University of Surrey, Guildford
on 25 October 1968. This was
followed by a US concert
debut on 26 December 1968
(when promoter Barry Fey
added them to a bill in
Denver, Colorado before
moving on to the west coast
for dates in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and other cities. Led
Zeppelin's eponymous debut
album was released on 12
January 1969, during their
first US tour. The album's
blend of blues, folk and
eastern influences with
distorted amplification made
it one of the pivotal records in
the creation of heavy metal
music. However, Plant has
commented that it is unfair
for people to typecast the
band as heavy metal, since
about a third of their music
was acoustic. Live in
Montreux, 1970 In an
interview for the Led
Zeppelin Profiled radio promo
CD (1990) Page said that the
album took about 36 hours of
studio time to create
(including mixing), and stated
that he knows this because of
the amount charged on the
studio bill. Peter Grant
claimed the album cost
£1,750 to produce (including
artwork). By 1975, the album
had grossed $7,000,000. Led
Zeppelin's album cover met
an interesting protest when,
at a 28 February 1970 gig in
Copenhagen, the band were
billed as "The Nobs" as the
result of a threat of legal
action from aristocrat Eva von
Zeppelin a relative of the
creator of the Zeppelin
aircraft, who, upon seeing the
logo of the Hindenburg
crashing in flames,
threatened to have the show
pulled off the air. In their first
year, Led Zeppelin managed
to complete four US and four
UK concert tours, and also
released their second album,
entitled Led Zeppelin II.
Recorded almost entirely on
the road at various North
American recording studios,
the second album was an
even greater success than the
first and reached the number
one chart position in the US
and the UK. Here the band
further developed ideas
established on their debut
album, creating a work which
became even more widely
acclaimed and arguably more
influential. It has been
suggested that Led Zeppelin II
largely wrote the blueprint
for 1970s hard rock.
Following the album's
release, Led Zeppelin
completed several more tours
of the United States. They
played often, initially in clubs
and ballrooms, then in larger
auditoriums and eventually
stadiums as their popularity
grew. Led Zeppelin concerts
could last more than three
hours, with expanded,
improvised live versions of
their song repertoire. Many of
these shows have been
preserved as Led Zeppelin
bootleg recordings. It was
also during this period of
intensive concert touring that
the band developed a
reputation for off-stage
excess. One alleged example
of such extravagance was the
shark episode, or red snapper
incident, which is said to have
taken place at the Edgewater
Inn in Seattle, Washington, on
28 July 1969. "The biggest
band in the world" (1970 –
1977) Led Zeppelin's
popularity in the early years
was dwarfed by their
triumphant mid-seventies
successes and it is this period
that continues to define the
band. The band's image also
changed as members began
to wear elaborate,
flamboyant clothing. Led
Zeppelin began travelling in a
private jet airliner nicknamed
The Starship, rented out
entire sections of hotels most
notably the Continental Hyatt
House in Los Angeles, known
colloquially as the "Riot
House", and became the
subject of many of rock's most
famous stories of debauchery.
One escapade involved John
Bonham riding a motorcycle
through a rented floor of the
Riot House, while another
involved the destruction of a
room in the Tokyo Hilton,
leading to the band being
banned from that
establishment for life.
However, although Led
Zeppelin developed a
reputation for trashing their
hotel suites and throwing
television sets out of the
windows, some suggest that
these tales have been
somewhat exaggerated.
Music journalist Chris Welch
argues that "Led Zeppelin's
travels spawned many stories,
but it was a myth that they
were constantly engaged in
acts of wanton destruction
and lewd behaviour. For the
composition of their third
album, Led Zeppelin III, Jimmy
Page and Robert Plant retired
to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote
cottage in Wales, in 1970. The
result was a more acoustic
sound and a song, "Bron-Yr-
Aur Stomp", misspelt as "Bron-
Y-Aur Stomp" on the album
cover, which was strongly
influenced by folk and Celtic
music, and revealed the
band's versatility. The album's
rich acoustic sound initially
received mixed reactions,
with many critics and fans
surprised at the turn taken
away from the primarily
electric compositions of the
first two albums. Over time,
however, its reputation has
improved and Led Zeppelin III
is now generally praised. It
has a unique album cover
featuring a wheel which,
when rotated, displays
various images through cut
outs in the main jacket
sleeve. The album's opening
track, "Immigrant Song", was
released in November 1970
by Atlantic Records as a single
against the band's wishes. It
included their only non-
album b-side, "Hey Hey What
Can I Do". Even though the
band saw their albums as
indivisible, whole listening
experiences —and their
manager, Peter Grant,
maintained an aggressive
pro-album stance —some
singles were released
without their consent. The
group also increasingly
resisted television
appearances, enforcing their
preference that their fans
hear and see them in live
concerts. The four symbols on
the label and inside sleeve of
Led Zeppelin IV, representing
(from left to right) Jimmy
Page, John Paul Jones, John
Bonham, and Robert Plant.Led
Zeppelin's fourth album was
released on 8 November
1971. There was no indication
of a title or a band name on
the original cover, but on the
LP label four symbols were
printed —. The band were
motivated to undertake this
decision because of their
disdain for the music press,
which tended to label them
as hyped and overrated. In
response, they released the
album with no indication of
who they were in order to
prove that the music could
sell itself.[24] The album is
variously referred to as Four
Symbols and The Fourth
Album both titles were used
in the Atlantic Records
catalogue, and also IV,
Untitled, Zoso, Runes, Sticks,
Man With Sticks, and Four. It is
still officially untitled and
most commonly referred to as
Led Zeppelin IV. In an
interview with Rolling Stone
magazine in 2005, Plant said
that it is simply called The
Fourth Album. further refined
the band's unique formula of
combining earthy, acoustic
elements with heavy metal
and blues emphases. The
album included examples of
hard rock, such as "Black Dog"
and an acoustic track, "Going
to California" (a tribute to Joni
Mitchell). "Rock and Roll" is a
tribute to the early rock music
of the 1950s. Until mid-2007,
the song was used
prominently in Cadillac
automobile commercials—
one of the few instances of
Led Zeppelin's surviving
members licensing songs.[56]
The album is one of the best-
selling albums in history and
its massive popularity
cemented Led Zeppelin's
superstardom in the 1970s. To
date it has sold 23 million
copies in the United States.
The track "Stairway to
Heaven," although never
released as a single, is
sometimes quoted as being
the most requested and most
played album-oriented rock
FM radio song. In 2005, the
magazine Guitar World held a
poll of readers in which
"Stairway to Heaven" was
voted as having the greatest
guitar solo of all time. Led
Zeppelin's next album,
Houses of the Holy, was
released in 1973. It featured
further experimentation, with
longer tracks and expanded
use of synthesisers and
mellotron orchestration. The
song "Houses of the Holy"
does not appear on its
namesake album, even
though it was recorded at the
same time as other songs on
the album; it eventually made
its way onto the 1975 album
Physical Graffiti. The orange
album cover of Houses of the
Holy depicts images of nude
children climbing up the
Giant's Causeway (in County
Antrim, Northern Ireland).
Although the children are not
depicted from the front, this
was controversial at the time
of the album's release, and in
some areas, such as the "Bible
Belt" and Spain, the record
was banned. The album
topped the charts, and Led
Zeppelin's subsequent
concert tour of the United
States in 1973 broke records
for attendance, as they
consistently filled large
auditoriums and stadiums. At
Tampa Stadium, Florida, they
played to 56,800 fans
breaking the record set by
The Beatles at Shea Stadium
in 1965, and grossed
$309,000. Three sold-out
shows at Madison Square
Garden in New York were
filmed for a motion picture,
but the theatrical release of
this project (The Song
Remains the Same) would be
delayed until 1976. During
the final night's performance,
$203,000 of the band's money
from gate receipts went
missing from a safety deposit
box at the Drake Hotel. It was
never recovered. Led
Zeppelin live at Chicago
Stadium, January 1975.In
1974, Led Zeppelin took a
break from touring and
launched their own record
label, Swan Song, named after
one of only five Led Zeppelin
songs which the band never
released commercially (Page
later re-worked the song with
his band, The Firm, and it
appears as "Midnight
Moonlight" on their first
album). The record label's
logo, based on a drawing
called Evening: Fall of Day
(1869) by William Rimmer,
features a picture of Apollo.
The logo can be found on
much Led Zeppelin
memorabilia, especially t-
shirts. In addition to using
Swan Song as a vehicle to
promote their own albums,
the band expanded the
label's roster, signing artists
such as Bad Company, Pretty
Things, Maggie Bell,
Detective, Dave Edmunds,
Midnight Flyer, Sad Café and
Wildlife. The label was
successful while Led Zeppelin
existed, but folded less than
three years after they
disbanded. 24 February 1975
saw the release of Led
Zeppelin's first double album,
Physical Graffiti, which was
their first release on the Swan
Song Records label. It
consisted of fifteen songs,
eight of which were recorded
at Headley Grange in 1974,
and the remainder being
tracks previously recorded but
not released on earlier
albums. A review in Rolling
Stone magazine referred to
Physical Graffiti as Led
Zeppelin's "bid for artistic
respectability," adding that
the only competition the
band had for the title of
'World's Best Rock Band' were
The Rolling Stones and The
Who. The album was a
massive fiscal and critical
success. Shortly after the
release of Physical Graffiti, all
previous Led Zeppelin albums
simultaneously re-entered
the top-200 album chart, and
the band embarked on
another U.S. tour, again
playing to record-breaking
crowds. In May 1975, Led
Zeppelin played five highly
successful, sold-out nights at
the Earls Court Arena in
London, footage of which was
released in 2003, on the Led
Zeppelin DVD. Following
these triumphant Earls Court
appearances Led Zeppelin
took a holiday and planned a
series of outdoor summer
concerts in America,
scheduled to open with two
dates in San Francisco.[54]
These plans were thwarted in
August 1975 when Robert
Plant and his wife Maureen
were involved in a serious car
crash while on holiday in
Rhodes, Greece. Robert
suffered a broken ankle and
Maureen was badly injured; a
blood transfusion saved her
life.[23] Unable to tour, Plant
headed to the channel island
of Jersey to spend August and
September recuperating, with
Bonham and Page in tow. The
band then reconvened in
Malibu, California. It was
during this forced hiatus that
much of the material for their
next album, Presence, was
written. By this time, Led
Zeppelin were the world's
number one rock attraction,
having outsold most bands of
the time, including the
Rolling Stones. Presence,
released in March 1976,
marked a change in the Led
Zeppelin sound towards more
straightforward, guitar-based
jams, departing from the
acoustic ballads and intricate
arrangements featured on
their previous albums.
Though it was a platinum
seller, Presence received
mixed responses from critics
and fans and some speculated
the band's legendary
excesses may have caught up
with them. The recording of
Presence coincided with the
beginning of Page's heroin
use, which may have
interfered with Led Zeppelin's
later live shows and studio
recordings, although Page has
denied this. Despite the
original criticisms, Jimmy
Page has called Presence his
favourite album, and its
opening track "Achilles Last
Stand" his favourite Led
Zeppelin song. In an
interview with a Swedish TV
program, Plant stated that
Presence is the album that
sounds the most "Led
Zeppelin" of all their LPs.
Plant's injuries prevented Led
Zeppelin from touring in
1976. Instead, the band
finally completed the concert
film The Song Remains The
Same, and the soundtrack
album of the film. The
recording had taken place
during three nights of
concerts at Madison Square
Garden in July 1973, during
the band's concert tour of the
United States. The film
premiered in New York on 20
October 1976, but was given
a lukewarm reception by
critics and fans. The film was
particularly unsuccessful in
the UK, where, after being
unwilling to tour since 1975
due to a taxation exile, Led
Zeppelin were facing an
uphill battle to recapture the
public spotlight at home.
Plant (left) and Page (right)
on stage during the 1977
North American tourIn 1977,
Led Zeppelin embarked on
another major concert tour of
North America. Here the band
set another attendance
record, with 76,229 people
attending their Pontiac
Silverdome concert on 30
April. It was, according to the
Guinness Book of Records, the
largest attendance to date for
a single act show. However,
though it was financially
profitable, the tour was beset
with off-stage problems. On 3
June a concert at Tampa
Stadium was cut short
because of a severe
thunderstorm, despite tickets
printed with "Rain or Shine".
A riot broke out amongst the
audience, resulting in several
arrests and injuries. After a 23
July show at the "Day on the
Green" festival at the Oakland
Coliseum in Oakland,
California, John Bonham and
members of the band's
support staff including
manager Peter Grant and
security coordinator John
Bindon were arrested after a
member of promoter Bill
Graham's staff was badly
beaten during the
performance. A member of
the staff had allegedly
slapped Grant's son when he
was taking down a dressing
room sign. This was seen by
John Bonham, who came over
and kicked the man. Then,
when Grant heard about this,
he went into the trailer, along
with Bindon and assaulted
the man while tour manager
Richard Cole stood outside
and guarded the trailer. The
following day's second
Oakland concert would prove
to be the band's final live
appearance in the United
States. Two days later, as the
band checked in at a French
Quarter hotel for their 30 July
performance at the Louisiana
Superdome, news came that
Plant's five year old son,
Karac, had died from a
stomach virus. The rest of the
tour was immediately
cancelled, prompting
widespread speculation
about the band's future.
Bonham's death and breakup
(1978 –1980) November 1978
saw the group recording
again, this time at Polar
Studios in Stockholm,
Sweden. The resultant album
was In Through the Out Door,
which exhibited a degree of
sonic experimentation that
again drew mixed reactions
from critics. Nevertheless, the
band still commanded legions
of loyal fans, and the album
easily reached #1 in the UK
and the U.S. in just its second
week on the Billboard album
chart. As a result of this
album's release, Led
Zeppelin's entire catalogue
made the Billboard Top 200
between the weeks of 27
October and 3 November
1979. In August 1979, after
two warm-up shows in
Copenhagen, Denmark, Led
Zeppelin headlined two
concerts at the Knebworth
Music Festival, where crowds
of close to 120,000 witnessed
the return of the band.
However, Plant was not eager
to tour full-time again, and
even considered leaving Led
Zeppelin. He was persuaded
to stay by Peter Grant. A brief,
low-key European tour was
undertaken in June and July
1980, featuring a stripped-
down set without the usual
lengthy jams and solos. At
one show on 27 June, in
Nuremberg, Germany, the
concert came to an abrupt
end in the middle of the third
song when John Bonham
collapsed on stage and was
rushed to a hospital.[76] Press
speculation arose that
Bonham's problem was
caused by an excess of
alcohol and drugs, but the
band claimed that he had
simply overeaten, and they
completed the European tour
on 7 July, at Berlin. On 24
September 1980, Bonham
was picked up by Led
Zeppelin assistant Rex King to
attend rehearsals at Bray
Studios for the upcoming tour
of the United States, the
band's first since 1977,
scheduled to commence on
17 October. During the
journey Bonham had asked to
stop for breakfast, where he
downed four quadruple
vodkas (450 ml), with a ham
roll. After taking a bite of the
ham roll he said to his
assistant, "Breakfast". He
continued to drink heavily
when he arrived at the studio.
A halt was called to the
rehearsals late in the evening
and the band retired to Page's
house — The Old Mill House in
Clewer, Windsor. After
midnight, Bonham had fallen
asleep and was taken to bed
and placed on his side. At
1:45 pm the next day Benji
LeFevre (who had replaced
Richard Cole as Led Zeppelin's
tour manager) and John Paul
Jones found him dead.
Bonham was 32 years old. The
cause of death was
asphyxiation from vomit, and
a verdict of accidental death
was returned at an inquest
held on 27 October.[28] An
autopsy found no other drugs
in Bonham's body. Bonham
was cremated on 10 October
1980, at Rushock parish
church in Droitwich,
Worcestershire, England.
Despite rumours that Cozy
Powell, Carmine Appice,
Barriemore Barlow, Simon
Kirke or Bev Bevan would join
the group as his replacement,
the remaining members
decided to disband after
Bonham's death. They issued
a press statement on 4
December 1980 confirming
that the band would not
continue without Bonham.
"We wish it to be known that
the loss of our dear friend,
and the deep sense of
undivided harmony felt by
ourselves and our manager,
have led us to decide that we
could not continue as we
were." Post-Led Zeppelin
(1981 –2007) In 1982, the
surviving members of the
group released a collection of
out-takes from various
sessions during Led Zeppelin's
career, entitled Coda. It
included two tracks taken
from the band's performance
at the Royal Albert Hall in
1970, one each from the Led
Zeppelin III and Houses of the
Holy sessions, and three from
the In Through the Out Door
sessions. It also featured a
1976 John Bonham drum
instrumental with electronic
effects added by Jimmy Page,
called "Bonzo's Montreux". On
13 July 1985, Page, Plant and
Jones reunited for the Live
Aid concert at JFK Stadium,
Philadelphia, playing a short
set featuring drummers Tony
Thompson and Phil Collins
and bassist Paul Martinez.
Collins had contributed to
Plant's first two solo albums
while Martinez was a member
of Plant's current solo band.
However, the performance
was marred by the lack of
rehearsal with the two
drummers, Page's struggles
with an out-of-tune Les Paul
and poorly-functioning
monitors, and by Plant's
hoarse voice. Page himself
has described the
performance as "pretty
shambolic", while Plant was
even less charitable,
characterising it as an
"atrocity". When Live Aid
footage was released on a
four-DVD set in late 2004 to
raise money for Sudan, the
group unanimously agreed
not to allow footage from
their performance to be used,
asserting that it was not up to
their standard. However, to
demonstrate their ongoing
support for the campaign
Page and Plant pledged
proceeds from their
forthcoming Page and Plant
DVD release and John Paul
Jones pledged the proceeds
of his then-current US tour
with Mutual Admiration
Society to the project. The
three members reunited
again in May 1988, for the
Atlantic Records 40th
Anniversary concert, with
Bonham's son, Jason Bonham,
on drums. However, the
reunion was again
compromised by a disjointed
performance, particularly by
Plant and Page (the two
having argued immediately
prior to coming on stage
about whether to play
"Stairway to Heaven"), and by
the complete loss of Jones'
keyboards on the live
television feed. Page later
described the performance as
"one big disappointment",
and Plant said unambiguously
that "the gig was foul". The
first Led Zeppelin box set of
the nineties, featuring tracks
remastered under the
personal supervision of Jimmy
Page, introduced the band's
music to many new fans, thus
stimulating something of a
renaissance for Led Zeppelin.
This set also included four
previously unreleased tracks,
including the Robert Johnson
tribute "Travelling Riverside
Blues", which was released as
a single in the US. The song
was a huge hit, with the
video in heavy rotation on
MTV. 1992 saw the release of
the "Immigrant Song" b/w
"Hey Hey What Can I Do" (the
original b-side) as a CD single
in the United States. The
second box set was released
in 1993; the two box sets
together containing all
known studio recordings, as
well as some rare live tracks.
In 1994, Page and Plant
reunited in the form of a 90
minute "UnLedded" MTV
project. They later released
an album called No Quarter:
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Unledded, which featured
some reworked Led Zeppelin
songs, and embarked on a
world tour the following year.
This is said to be the
beginning of the inner rift
between the band members,
as Jones was not even told of
the reunion. When asked
where Jones was, Plant had
replied that he was out
"parking the car". On 12
January 1995, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the
United States Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame by Aerosmith's
vocalist, Steven Tyler and
guitarist Joe Perry. Jason and
Zoe Bonham also attended,
representing their late father.
At the induction ceremony,
the band's inner rift became
apparent when Jones joked
upon accepting his award,
"Thank you, my friends, for
finally remembering my
phone number", causing
consternation and awkward
looks from Page and Plant.
Afterwards, they played a
brief set with Tyler and Perry
featuring Jason Bonham on
drums, and with Neil Young
and Michael Lee replacing
Bonham. On 29 August 1997,
Atlantic released a single edit
of "Whole Lotta Love" in the
U.S. and the UK, making it the
only Led Zeppelin UK CD
single. Additional tracks on
this CD-single are "Baby Come
On Home" and "Travelling
Riverside Blues". It is the only
single the band ever released
in the UK. It peaked at #21.
On November 11 1997 the
release of Led Zeppelin BBC
Sessions, the first Led
Zeppelin album in fifteen
years. The two-disc set
included almost all of the
band's recordings for the BBC.
Page and Plant released
another album called Walking
into Clarksdale in 1998,
featuring all new material.
However, the album wasn't as
successful as No Quarter, and
the band slowly dissolved. On
29 November 1999 the RIAA
announced that the band
were only the third act in
music history to achieve four
or more Diamond albums. In
2002, Robert Plant and John
Paul Jones reconciled after
years of strife that kept the
band apart. This was followed
by rumours of reunion,
quickly quashed by individual
members' representatives.
2003 saw the release of a
triple live album, How the
West Was Won, and a video
collection, Led Zeppelin DVD,
both featuring material from
the band's heyday. By the end
of the year, the DVD had sold
more than 520,000 copies.
Led Zeppelin were ranked
#14 on Rolling Stone's 2004
list of the "100 Greatest Artists
of All Time",[89] and the
following year the band
received a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award. In
November 2005, it was
announced that Led Zeppelin
and Russian conductor Valery
Gergiev were the winners of
the 2006 Polar Music Prize.
The King of Sweden
presented the prize to Plant,
Page, and Jones, along with
John Bonham's daughter, in
Stockholm in May 2006.[90] In
November 2006, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the UK
Music Hall of Fame. The
television broadcasting of the
event consisted of an
introduction to the band by
various famous admirers, a
presentation of an award to
Jimmy Page and then a short
speech by the guitarist. After
this, rock group Wolfmother
played a tribute to Led
Zeppelin, performing the
song "Communication
Breakdown". On 27 July 2007,
Atlantic/Rhino, & Warner
Home Video announced three
new Led Zeppelin titles to be
released in November, 2007.
Released first was Mothership
on 13 November, a 24-track
best-of spanning the band's
career, followed by a reissue
of the soundtrack to The Song
Remains the Same on 20
November which includes
previously unreleased
material, and a new DVD. On
15 October 2007, it was
reported that Led Zeppelin
were expected to announce a
new series of agreements
that make the band's songs
available as legal digital
downloads, first as ringtones
through Verizon Wireless
then as digital downloads of
the band's eight studio
albums and other recordings
on 13 November.[94] The
offerings will be available
through both Verizon
Wireless and iTunes. On 3
November 2007, a UK
newspaper the Daily Mirror
announced that it had world
exclusive rights to stream six
previously unreleased tracks
via its website. On 8
November 2007, XM Satellite
Radio launched XM LED, the
network's first artist-exclusive
channel dedicated to Led
Zeppelin. On 13 November
2007, Led Zeppelin's
complete works were
published on iTunes. 2007
The Reunion The surviving
members of Led Zeppelin and
Jason Bonham at The O2 in
London in 2007Main article:
Ahmet Ertegun Tribute
Concert On 10 December
2007 the surviving members
of Led Zeppelin reunited for a
one-off benefit concert held
in memory of music
executive Ahmet Ertegün,
with Jason Bonham taking up
his late father's place on
drums. It was announced on
12 September 2007 by
promoter Harvey Goldsmith in
a press conference. The
concert was to help raise
money for the Ahmet Ertegün
Education Fund, which pays
for university scholarships in
the UK, US and Turkey. Music
critics praised the band's
performance. Hamish MacBain
of NME proclaimed, "What
they have done here tonight
is proof they can still perform
to the level that originally
earned them their legendary
reputation...We can only hope
this isn't the last we see of
them." Page suggested the
band may start work on new
material, and stated that a
world tour may be in the
works. Meanwhile, Plant
made his position regarding a
reunion tour known to the
Sunday Times, stating: "The
whole idea of being on a
cavalcade of merciless
repetition is not what it's all
about." However, he also
made it known that he could
be in favour of more one-off
shows in the near future: "It
wouldn't be such a bad idea
to play together from time to
time." Reunion tour reports
(2008) Following the reunion
concert and the press
coverage it generated,
speculation on the future of
the band and the possibility
of a tour with Jason Bonham
on drums increased to a level
not seen in several years. In
an interview promoting the
release of the Mothership
compilation in Tokyo early in
2008, Jimmy Page revealed
that he was prepared to
embark upon a world tour
with Led Zeppelin, but due to
Robert Plant's tour
commitments with Alison
Krauss, such plans will not be
announced until at least
September. Showing
enthusiasm for continued
performing, in late spring
Page and Jones joined Foo
Fighters frontman Dave Grohl
and drummer Taylor Hawkins
onstage at Wembley Stadium
to perform Led Zeppelin
tracks "Rock and
Roll" (Hawkins on vocals and
Grohl on drums), followed by
"Ramble On" (Grohl on vocals
and Hawkins on drums). Plant
however continued to remain
focused on his recent work
and tour with Krauss. Their
duet album Raising Sand
became certified platinum in
March, and their recordings
received awards including a
Grammy for the song "Gone,
Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"
and Album of the Year from
the Americana Music
Association. Along with
concentrating on the duo's
American tour, Plant
remained evasive on the
subject of a Led Zeppelin
reunion tour, and expressed
displeasure at the process
leading up to the 2007
reunion show during an
interview with GQ Magazine,
saying "The endless
paperwork was like nothing
I've experienced before. I've
kept every one of the emails
that were exchanged before
the concert and I'm thinking
of compiling them for a book,
which I feel sure would be
hailed as a sort of literary
version of Spinal Tap." After
the BBC reported in late
August that Jimmy Page, John
Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham
had been recording material
which could become a new
Led Zeppelin project,[104]
the rumours of a reunion
began to accumulate through
the remaining summer. On 29
September Plant released a
statement in which he called
reports of a Led Zeppelin
reunion "frustrating and
ridiculous". He said he would
not be recording or touring
with the band, before adding,
"I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul
Jones and Jason Bonham
nothing but success with any
future projects." Following
Plant's statement,
authoritative but divergent
views of the possibility of a
Led Zeppelin reunion tour the
next year were offered by
John Paul Jones and promoter
Harvey Goldsmith. In late
October, Jones confirmed to
BBC Radio Devon in Exeter
that he, Page, and Bonham
were seeking a replacement
for Plant. The bassist
remarked: "We are trying out
a couple of singers. We want
to do it. It's sounding great
and we want to get on and
get out there." The next day,
Goldsmith commented on the
prospect of a Led Zeppelin
reunion, casting doubt on the
possibility or wisdom of such
a venture. In an interview
with BBC News, Goldsmith
stated "I think that there is an
opportunity for them to go
out and present themselves. I
don't think a long rambling
tour is the answer as Led
Zeppelin." The Ertegün
Concert promoter felt the
result of the ongoing plans of
Jones, Page, and Bonham
would not be "called Led
Zeppelin" A spokesman for
guitarist Jimmy Page later
confirmed this, telling
RollingStone.com that a new
band featuring Page, bassist
John Paul Jones and drummer
Jason Bonham would not go
by the name Led Zeppelin
due to the absence of singer
Robert Plant. On January 7,
2009, Music Radar reported
that Jimmy Page's manager
Robert Mensch said that the
band had "tried out a few
singers, but no one worked
out, that was it. The whole
thing is completely over now.
There are absolutely no plans
for them to continue." In a
radio interview, Plant cited a
fear of disappointment as a
major factor for not
continuing a reunited
Zeppelin. "The
disappointment that could be
there once you commit to
that and the comparisons to
something that was basically
fired by youth and a different
kind of exhuberance to now,
it's very hard to go back and
meet that head on and do it
justice.
Early days (1968–1969) With
their first album not yet
released, the band made their
live debut under the name
"Led Zeppelin" at the
University of Surrey, Guildford
on 25 October 1968. This was
followed by a US concert
debut on 26 December 1968
(when promoter Barry Fey
added them to a bill in
Denver, Colorado before
moving on to the west coast
for dates in Los Angeles, San
Francisco and other cities. Led
Zeppelin's eponymous debut
album was released on 12
January 1969, during their
first US tour. The album's
blend of blues, folk and
eastern influences with
distorted amplification made
it one of the pivotal records in
the creation of heavy metal
music. However, Plant has
commented that it is unfair
for people to typecast the
band as heavy metal, since
about a third of their music
was acoustic. Live in
Montreux, 1970 In an
interview for the Led
Zeppelin Profiled radio promo
CD (1990) Page said that the
album took about 36 hours of
studio time to create
(including mixing), and stated
that he knows this because of
the amount charged on the
studio bill. Peter Grant
claimed the album cost
£1,750 to produce (including
artwork). By 1975, the album
had grossed $7,000,000. Led
Zeppelin's album cover met
an interesting protest when,
at a 28 February 1970 gig in
Copenhagen, the band were
billed as "The Nobs" as the
result of a threat of legal
action from aristocrat Eva von
Zeppelin a relative of the
creator of the Zeppelin
aircraft, who, upon seeing the
logo of the Hindenburg
crashing in flames,
threatened to have the show
pulled off the air. In their first
year, Led Zeppelin managed
to complete four US and four
UK concert tours, and also
released their second album,
entitled Led Zeppelin II.
Recorded almost entirely on
the road at various North
American recording studios,
the second album was an
even greater success than the
first and reached the number
one chart position in the US
and the UK. Here the band
further developed ideas
established on their debut
album, creating a work which
became even more widely
acclaimed and arguably more
influential. It has been
suggested that Led Zeppelin II
largely wrote the blueprint
for 1970s hard rock.
Following the album's
release, Led Zeppelin
completed several more tours
of the United States. They
played often, initially in clubs
and ballrooms, then in larger
auditoriums and eventually
stadiums as their popularity
grew. Led Zeppelin concerts
could last more than three
hours, with expanded,
improvised live versions of
their song repertoire. Many of
these shows have been
preserved as Led Zeppelin
bootleg recordings. It was
also during this period of
intensive concert touring that
the band developed a
reputation for off-stage
excess. One alleged example
of such extravagance was the
shark episode, or red snapper
incident, which is said to have
taken place at the Edgewater
Inn in Seattle, Washington, on
28 July 1969. "The biggest
band in the world" (1970 –
1977) Led Zeppelin's
popularity in the early years
was dwarfed by their
triumphant mid-seventies
successes and it is this period
that continues to define the
band. The band's image also
changed as members began
to wear elaborate,
flamboyant clothing. Led
Zeppelin began travelling in a
private jet airliner nicknamed
The Starship, rented out
entire sections of hotels most
notably the Continental Hyatt
House in Los Angeles, known
colloquially as the "Riot
House", and became the
subject of many of rock's most
famous stories of debauchery.
One escapade involved John
Bonham riding a motorcycle
through a rented floor of the
Riot House, while another
involved the destruction of a
room in the Tokyo Hilton,
leading to the band being
banned from that
establishment for life.
However, although Led
Zeppelin developed a
reputation for trashing their
hotel suites and throwing
television sets out of the
windows, some suggest that
these tales have been
somewhat exaggerated.
Music journalist Chris Welch
argues that "Led Zeppelin's
travels spawned many stories,
but it was a myth that they
were constantly engaged in
acts of wanton destruction
and lewd behaviour. For the
composition of their third
album, Led Zeppelin III, Jimmy
Page and Robert Plant retired
to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote
cottage in Wales, in 1970. The
result was a more acoustic
sound and a song, "Bron-Yr-
Aur Stomp", misspelt as "Bron-
Y-Aur Stomp" on the album
cover, which was strongly
influenced by folk and Celtic
music, and revealed the
band's versatility. The album's
rich acoustic sound initially
received mixed reactions,
with many critics and fans
surprised at the turn taken
away from the primarily
electric compositions of the
first two albums. Over time,
however, its reputation has
improved and Led Zeppelin III
is now generally praised. It
has a unique album cover
featuring a wheel which,
when rotated, displays
various images through cut
outs in the main jacket
sleeve. The album's opening
track, "Immigrant Song", was
released in November 1970
by Atlantic Records as a single
against the band's wishes. It
included their only non-
album b-side, "Hey Hey What
Can I Do". Even though the
band saw their albums as
indivisible, whole listening
experiences —and their
manager, Peter Grant,
maintained an aggressive
pro-album stance —some
singles were released
without their consent. The
group also increasingly
resisted television
appearances, enforcing their
preference that their fans
hear and see them in live
concerts. The four symbols on
the label and inside sleeve of
Led Zeppelin IV, representing
(from left to right) Jimmy
Page, John Paul Jones, John
Bonham, and Robert Plant.Led
Zeppelin's fourth album was
released on 8 November
1971. There was no indication
of a title or a band name on
the original cover, but on the
LP label four symbols were
printed —. The band were
motivated to undertake this
decision because of their
disdain for the music press,
which tended to label them
as hyped and overrated. In
response, they released the
album with no indication of
who they were in order to
prove that the music could
sell itself.[24] The album is
variously referred to as Four
Symbols and The Fourth
Album both titles were used
in the Atlantic Records
catalogue, and also IV,
Untitled, Zoso, Runes, Sticks,
Man With Sticks, and Four. It is
still officially untitled and
most commonly referred to as
Led Zeppelin IV. In an
interview with Rolling Stone
magazine in 2005, Plant said
that it is simply called The
Fourth Album. further refined
the band's unique formula of
combining earthy, acoustic
elements with heavy metal
and blues emphases. The
album included examples of
hard rock, such as "Black Dog"
and an acoustic track, "Going
to California" (a tribute to Joni
Mitchell). "Rock and Roll" is a
tribute to the early rock music
of the 1950s. Until mid-2007,
the song was used
prominently in Cadillac
automobile commercials—
one of the few instances of
Led Zeppelin's surviving
members licensing songs.[56]
The album is one of the best-
selling albums in history and
its massive popularity
cemented Led Zeppelin's
superstardom in the 1970s. To
date it has sold 23 million
copies in the United States.
The track "Stairway to
Heaven," although never
released as a single, is
sometimes quoted as being
the most requested and most
played album-oriented rock
FM radio song. In 2005, the
magazine Guitar World held a
poll of readers in which
"Stairway to Heaven" was
voted as having the greatest
guitar solo of all time. Led
Zeppelin's next album,
Houses of the Holy, was
released in 1973. It featured
further experimentation, with
longer tracks and expanded
use of synthesisers and
mellotron orchestration. The
song "Houses of the Holy"
does not appear on its
namesake album, even
though it was recorded at the
same time as other songs on
the album; it eventually made
its way onto the 1975 album
Physical Graffiti. The orange
album cover of Houses of the
Holy depicts images of nude
children climbing up the
Giant's Causeway (in County
Antrim, Northern Ireland).
Although the children are not
depicted from the front, this
was controversial at the time
of the album's release, and in
some areas, such as the "Bible
Belt" and Spain, the record
was banned. The album
topped the charts, and Led
Zeppelin's subsequent
concert tour of the United
States in 1973 broke records
for attendance, as they
consistently filled large
auditoriums and stadiums. At
Tampa Stadium, Florida, they
played to 56,800 fans
breaking the record set by
The Beatles at Shea Stadium
in 1965, and grossed
$309,000. Three sold-out
shows at Madison Square
Garden in New York were
filmed for a motion picture,
but the theatrical release of
this project (The Song
Remains the Same) would be
delayed until 1976. During
the final night's performance,
$203,000 of the band's money
from gate receipts went
missing from a safety deposit
box at the Drake Hotel. It was
never recovered. Led
Zeppelin live at Chicago
Stadium, January 1975.In
1974, Led Zeppelin took a
break from touring and
launched their own record
label, Swan Song, named after
one of only five Led Zeppelin
songs which the band never
released commercially (Page
later re-worked the song with
his band, The Firm, and it
appears as "Midnight
Moonlight" on their first
album). The record label's
logo, based on a drawing
called Evening: Fall of Day
(1869) by William Rimmer,
features a picture of Apollo.
The logo can be found on
much Led Zeppelin
memorabilia, especially t-
shirts. In addition to using
Swan Song as a vehicle to
promote their own albums,
the band expanded the
label's roster, signing artists
such as Bad Company, Pretty
Things, Maggie Bell,
Detective, Dave Edmunds,
Midnight Flyer, Sad Café and
Wildlife. The label was
successful while Led Zeppelin
existed, but folded less than
three years after they
disbanded. 24 February 1975
saw the release of Led
Zeppelin's first double album,
Physical Graffiti, which was
their first release on the Swan
Song Records label. It
consisted of fifteen songs,
eight of which were recorded
at Headley Grange in 1974,
and the remainder being
tracks previously recorded but
not released on earlier
albums. A review in Rolling
Stone magazine referred to
Physical Graffiti as Led
Zeppelin's "bid for artistic
respectability," adding that
the only competition the
band had for the title of
'World's Best Rock Band' were
The Rolling Stones and The
Who. The album was a
massive fiscal and critical
success. Shortly after the
release of Physical Graffiti, all
previous Led Zeppelin albums
simultaneously re-entered
the top-200 album chart, and
the band embarked on
another U.S. tour, again
playing to record-breaking
crowds. In May 1975, Led
Zeppelin played five highly
successful, sold-out nights at
the Earls Court Arena in
London, footage of which was
released in 2003, on the Led
Zeppelin DVD. Following
these triumphant Earls Court
appearances Led Zeppelin
took a holiday and planned a
series of outdoor summer
concerts in America,
scheduled to open with two
dates in San Francisco.[54]
These plans were thwarted in
August 1975 when Robert
Plant and his wife Maureen
were involved in a serious car
crash while on holiday in
Rhodes, Greece. Robert
suffered a broken ankle and
Maureen was badly injured; a
blood transfusion saved her
life.[23] Unable to tour, Plant
headed to the channel island
of Jersey to spend August and
September recuperating, with
Bonham and Page in tow. The
band then reconvened in
Malibu, California. It was
during this forced hiatus that
much of the material for their
next album, Presence, was
written. By this time, Led
Zeppelin were the world's
number one rock attraction,
having outsold most bands of
the time, including the
Rolling Stones. Presence,
released in March 1976,
marked a change in the Led
Zeppelin sound towards more
straightforward, guitar-based
jams, departing from the
acoustic ballads and intricate
arrangements featured on
their previous albums.
Though it was a platinum
seller, Presence received
mixed responses from critics
and fans and some speculated
the band's legendary
excesses may have caught up
with them. The recording of
Presence coincided with the
beginning of Page's heroin
use, which may have
interfered with Led Zeppelin's
later live shows and studio
recordings, although Page has
denied this. Despite the
original criticisms, Jimmy
Page has called Presence his
favourite album, and its
opening track "Achilles Last
Stand" his favourite Led
Zeppelin song. In an
interview with a Swedish TV
program, Plant stated that
Presence is the album that
sounds the most "Led
Zeppelin" of all their LPs.
Plant's injuries prevented Led
Zeppelin from touring in
1976. Instead, the band
finally completed the concert
film The Song Remains The
Same, and the soundtrack
album of the film. The
recording had taken place
during three nights of
concerts at Madison Square
Garden in July 1973, during
the band's concert tour of the
United States. The film
premiered in New York on 20
October 1976, but was given
a lukewarm reception by
critics and fans. The film was
particularly unsuccessful in
the UK, where, after being
unwilling to tour since 1975
due to a taxation exile, Led
Zeppelin were facing an
uphill battle to recapture the
public spotlight at home.
Plant (left) and Page (right)
on stage during the 1977
North American tourIn 1977,
Led Zeppelin embarked on
another major concert tour of
North America. Here the band
set another attendance
record, with 76,229 people
attending their Pontiac
Silverdome concert on 30
April. It was, according to the
Guinness Book of Records, the
largest attendance to date for
a single act show. However,
though it was financially
profitable, the tour was beset
with off-stage problems. On 3
June a concert at Tampa
Stadium was cut short
because of a severe
thunderstorm, despite tickets
printed with "Rain or Shine".
A riot broke out amongst the
audience, resulting in several
arrests and injuries. After a 23
July show at the "Day on the
Green" festival at the Oakland
Coliseum in Oakland,
California, John Bonham and
members of the band's
support staff including
manager Peter Grant and
security coordinator John
Bindon were arrested after a
member of promoter Bill
Graham's staff was badly
beaten during the
performance. A member of
the staff had allegedly
slapped Grant's son when he
was taking down a dressing
room sign. This was seen by
John Bonham, who came over
and kicked the man. Then,
when Grant heard about this,
he went into the trailer, along
with Bindon and assaulted
the man while tour manager
Richard Cole stood outside
and guarded the trailer. The
following day's second
Oakland concert would prove
to be the band's final live
appearance in the United
States. Two days later, as the
band checked in at a French
Quarter hotel for their 30 July
performance at the Louisiana
Superdome, news came that
Plant's five year old son,
Karac, had died from a
stomach virus. The rest of the
tour was immediately
cancelled, prompting
widespread speculation
about the band's future.
Bonham's death and breakup
(1978 –1980) November 1978
saw the group recording
again, this time at Polar
Studios in Stockholm,
Sweden. The resultant album
was In Through the Out Door,
which exhibited a degree of
sonic experimentation that
again drew mixed reactions
from critics. Nevertheless, the
band still commanded legions
of loyal fans, and the album
easily reached #1 in the UK
and the U.S. in just its second
week on the Billboard album
chart. As a result of this
album's release, Led
Zeppelin's entire catalogue
made the Billboard Top 200
between the weeks of 27
October and 3 November
1979. In August 1979, after
two warm-up shows in
Copenhagen, Denmark, Led
Zeppelin headlined two
concerts at the Knebworth
Music Festival, where crowds
of close to 120,000 witnessed
the return of the band.
However, Plant was not eager
to tour full-time again, and
even considered leaving Led
Zeppelin. He was persuaded
to stay by Peter Grant. A brief,
low-key European tour was
undertaken in June and July
1980, featuring a stripped-
down set without the usual
lengthy jams and solos. At
one show on 27 June, in
Nuremberg, Germany, the
concert came to an abrupt
end in the middle of the third
song when John Bonham
collapsed on stage and was
rushed to a hospital.[76] Press
speculation arose that
Bonham's problem was
caused by an excess of
alcohol and drugs, but the
band claimed that he had
simply overeaten, and they
completed the European tour
on 7 July, at Berlin. On 24
September 1980, Bonham
was picked up by Led
Zeppelin assistant Rex King to
attend rehearsals at Bray
Studios for the upcoming tour
of the United States, the
band's first since 1977,
scheduled to commence on
17 October. During the
journey Bonham had asked to
stop for breakfast, where he
downed four quadruple
vodkas (450 ml), with a ham
roll. After taking a bite of the
ham roll he said to his
assistant, "Breakfast". He
continued to drink heavily
when he arrived at the studio.
A halt was called to the
rehearsals late in the evening
and the band retired to Page's
house — The Old Mill House in
Clewer, Windsor. After
midnight, Bonham had fallen
asleep and was taken to bed
and placed on his side. At
1:45 pm the next day Benji
LeFevre (who had replaced
Richard Cole as Led Zeppelin's
tour manager) and John Paul
Jones found him dead.
Bonham was 32 years old. The
cause of death was
asphyxiation from vomit, and
a verdict of accidental death
was returned at an inquest
held on 27 October.[28] An
autopsy found no other drugs
in Bonham's body. Bonham
was cremated on 10 October
1980, at Rushock parish
church in Droitwich,
Worcestershire, England.
Despite rumours that Cozy
Powell, Carmine Appice,
Barriemore Barlow, Simon
Kirke or Bev Bevan would join
the group as his replacement,
the remaining members
decided to disband after
Bonham's death. They issued
a press statement on 4
December 1980 confirming
that the band would not
continue without Bonham.
"We wish it to be known that
the loss of our dear friend,
and the deep sense of
undivided harmony felt by
ourselves and our manager,
have led us to decide that we
could not continue as we
were." Post-Led Zeppelin
(1981 –2007) In 1982, the
surviving members of the
group released a collection of
out-takes from various
sessions during Led Zeppelin's
career, entitled Coda. It
included two tracks taken
from the band's performance
at the Royal Albert Hall in
1970, one each from the Led
Zeppelin III and Houses of the
Holy sessions, and three from
the In Through the Out Door
sessions. It also featured a
1976 John Bonham drum
instrumental with electronic
effects added by Jimmy Page,
called "Bonzo's Montreux". On
13 July 1985, Page, Plant and
Jones reunited for the Live
Aid concert at JFK Stadium,
Philadelphia, playing a short
set featuring drummers Tony
Thompson and Phil Collins
and bassist Paul Martinez.
Collins had contributed to
Plant's first two solo albums
while Martinez was a member
of Plant's current solo band.
However, the performance
was marred by the lack of
rehearsal with the two
drummers, Page's struggles
with an out-of-tune Les Paul
and poorly-functioning
monitors, and by Plant's
hoarse voice. Page himself
has described the
performance as "pretty
shambolic", while Plant was
even less charitable,
characterising it as an
"atrocity". When Live Aid
footage was released on a
four-DVD set in late 2004 to
raise money for Sudan, the
group unanimously agreed
not to allow footage from
their performance to be used,
asserting that it was not up to
their standard. However, to
demonstrate their ongoing
support for the campaign
Page and Plant pledged
proceeds from their
forthcoming Page and Plant
DVD release and John Paul
Jones pledged the proceeds
of his then-current US tour
with Mutual Admiration
Society to the project. The
three members reunited
again in May 1988, for the
Atlantic Records 40th
Anniversary concert, with
Bonham's son, Jason Bonham,
on drums. However, the
reunion was again
compromised by a disjointed
performance, particularly by
Plant and Page (the two
having argued immediately
prior to coming on stage
about whether to play
"Stairway to Heaven"), and by
the complete loss of Jones'
keyboards on the live
television feed. Page later
described the performance as
"one big disappointment",
and Plant said unambiguously
that "the gig was foul". The
first Led Zeppelin box set of
the nineties, featuring tracks
remastered under the
personal supervision of Jimmy
Page, introduced the band's
music to many new fans, thus
stimulating something of a
renaissance for Led Zeppelin.
This set also included four
previously unreleased tracks,
including the Robert Johnson
tribute "Travelling Riverside
Blues", which was released as
a single in the US. The song
was a huge hit, with the
video in heavy rotation on
MTV. 1992 saw the release of
the "Immigrant Song" b/w
"Hey Hey What Can I Do" (the
original b-side) as a CD single
in the United States. The
second box set was released
in 1993; the two box sets
together containing all
known studio recordings, as
well as some rare live tracks.
In 1994, Page and Plant
reunited in the form of a 90
minute "UnLedded" MTV
project. They later released
an album called No Quarter:
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Unledded, which featured
some reworked Led Zeppelin
songs, and embarked on a
world tour the following year.
This is said to be the
beginning of the inner rift
between the band members,
as Jones was not even told of
the reunion. When asked
where Jones was, Plant had
replied that he was out
"parking the car". On 12
January 1995, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the
United States Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame by Aerosmith's
vocalist, Steven Tyler and
guitarist Joe Perry. Jason and
Zoe Bonham also attended,
representing their late father.
At the induction ceremony,
the band's inner rift became
apparent when Jones joked
upon accepting his award,
"Thank you, my friends, for
finally remembering my
phone number", causing
consternation and awkward
looks from Page and Plant.
Afterwards, they played a
brief set with Tyler and Perry
featuring Jason Bonham on
drums, and with Neil Young
and Michael Lee replacing
Bonham. On 29 August 1997,
Atlantic released a single edit
of "Whole Lotta Love" in the
U.S. and the UK, making it the
only Led Zeppelin UK CD
single. Additional tracks on
this CD-single are "Baby Come
On Home" and "Travelling
Riverside Blues". It is the only
single the band ever released
in the UK. It peaked at #21.
On November 11 1997 the
release of Led Zeppelin BBC
Sessions, the first Led
Zeppelin album in fifteen
years. The two-disc set
included almost all of the
band's recordings for the BBC.
Page and Plant released
another album called Walking
into Clarksdale in 1998,
featuring all new material.
However, the album wasn't as
successful as No Quarter, and
the band slowly dissolved. On
29 November 1999 the RIAA
announced that the band
were only the third act in
music history to achieve four
or more Diamond albums. In
2002, Robert Plant and John
Paul Jones reconciled after
years of strife that kept the
band apart. This was followed
by rumours of reunion,
quickly quashed by individual
members' representatives.
2003 saw the release of a
triple live album, How the
West Was Won, and a video
collection, Led Zeppelin DVD,
both featuring material from
the band's heyday. By the end
of the year, the DVD had sold
more than 520,000 copies.
Led Zeppelin were ranked
#14 on Rolling Stone's 2004
list of the "100 Greatest Artists
of All Time",[89] and the
following year the band
received a Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award. In
November 2005, it was
announced that Led Zeppelin
and Russian conductor Valery
Gergiev were the winners of
the 2006 Polar Music Prize.
The King of Sweden
presented the prize to Plant,
Page, and Jones, along with
John Bonham's daughter, in
Stockholm in May 2006.[90] In
November 2006, Led Zeppelin
were inducted into the UK
Music Hall of Fame. The
television broadcasting of the
event consisted of an
introduction to the band by
various famous admirers, a
presentation of an award to
Jimmy Page and then a short
speech by the guitarist. After
this, rock group Wolfmother
played a tribute to Led
Zeppelin, performing the
song "Communication
Breakdown". On 27 July 2007,
Atlantic/Rhino, & Warner
Home Video announced three
new Led Zeppelin titles to be
released in November, 2007.
Released first was Mothership
on 13 November, a 24-track
best-of spanning the band's
career, followed by a reissue
of the soundtrack to The Song
Remains the Same on 20
November which includes
previously unreleased
material, and a new DVD. On
15 October 2007, it was
reported that Led Zeppelin
were expected to announce a
new series of agreements
that make the band's songs
available as legal digital
downloads, first as ringtones
through Verizon Wireless
then as digital downloads of
the band's eight studio
albums and other recordings
on 13 November.[94] The
offerings will be available
through both Verizon
Wireless and iTunes. On 3
November 2007, a UK
newspaper the Daily Mirror
announced that it had world
exclusive rights to stream six
previously unreleased tracks
via its website. On 8
November 2007, XM Satellite
Radio launched XM LED, the
network's first artist-exclusive
channel dedicated to Led
Zeppelin. On 13 November
2007, Led Zeppelin's
complete works were
published on iTunes. 2007
The Reunion The surviving
members of Led Zeppelin and
Jason Bonham at The O2 in
London in 2007Main article:
Ahmet Ertegun Tribute
Concert On 10 December
2007 the surviving members
of Led Zeppelin reunited for a
one-off benefit concert held
in memory of music
executive Ahmet Ertegün,
with Jason Bonham taking up
his late father's place on
drums. It was announced on
12 September 2007 by
promoter Harvey Goldsmith in
a press conference. The
concert was to help raise
money for the Ahmet Ertegün
Education Fund, which pays
for university scholarships in
the UK, US and Turkey. Music
critics praised the band's
performance. Hamish MacBain
of NME proclaimed, "What
they have done here tonight
is proof they can still perform
to the level that originally
earned them their legendary
reputation...We can only hope
this isn't the last we see of
them." Page suggested the
band may start work on new
material, and stated that a
world tour may be in the
works. Meanwhile, Plant
made his position regarding a
reunion tour known to the
Sunday Times, stating: "The
whole idea of being on a
cavalcade of merciless
repetition is not what it's all
about." However, he also
made it known that he could
be in favour of more one-off
shows in the near future: "It
wouldn't be such a bad idea
to play together from time to
time." Reunion tour reports
(2008) Following the reunion
concert and the press
coverage it generated,
speculation on the future of
the band and the possibility
of a tour with Jason Bonham
on drums increased to a level
not seen in several years. In
an interview promoting the
release of the Mothership
compilation in Tokyo early in
2008, Jimmy Page revealed
that he was prepared to
embark upon a world tour
with Led Zeppelin, but due to
Robert Plant's tour
commitments with Alison
Krauss, such plans will not be
announced until at least
September. Showing
enthusiasm for continued
performing, in late spring
Page and Jones joined Foo
Fighters frontman Dave Grohl
and drummer Taylor Hawkins
onstage at Wembley Stadium
to perform Led Zeppelin
tracks "Rock and
Roll" (Hawkins on vocals and
Grohl on drums), followed by
"Ramble On" (Grohl on vocals
and Hawkins on drums). Plant
however continued to remain
focused on his recent work
and tour with Krauss. Their
duet album Raising Sand
became certified platinum in
March, and their recordings
received awards including a
Grammy for the song "Gone,
Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"
and Album of the Year from
the Americana Music
Association. Along with
concentrating on the duo's
American tour, Plant
remained evasive on the
subject of a Led Zeppelin
reunion tour, and expressed
displeasure at the process
leading up to the 2007
reunion show during an
interview with GQ Magazine,
saying "The endless
paperwork was like nothing
I've experienced before. I've
kept every one of the emails
that were exchanged before
the concert and I'm thinking
of compiling them for a book,
which I feel sure would be
hailed as a sort of literary
version of Spinal Tap." After
the BBC reported in late
August that Jimmy Page, John
Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham
had been recording material
which could become a new
Led Zeppelin project,[104]
the rumours of a reunion
began to accumulate through
the remaining summer. On 29
September Plant released a
statement in which he called
reports of a Led Zeppelin
reunion "frustrating and
ridiculous". He said he would
not be recording or touring
with the band, before adding,
"I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul
Jones and Jason Bonham
nothing but success with any
future projects." Following
Plant's statement,
authoritative but divergent
views of the possibility of a
Led Zeppelin reunion tour the
next year were offered by
John Paul Jones and promoter
Harvey Goldsmith. In late
October, Jones confirmed to
BBC Radio Devon in Exeter
that he, Page, and Bonham
were seeking a replacement
for Plant. The bassist
remarked: "We are trying out
a couple of singers. We want
to do it. It's sounding great
and we want to get on and
get out there." The next day,
Goldsmith commented on the
prospect of a Led Zeppelin
reunion, casting doubt on the
possibility or wisdom of such
a venture. In an interview
with BBC News, Goldsmith
stated "I think that there is an
opportunity for them to go
out and present themselves. I
don't think a long rambling
tour is the answer as Led
Zeppelin." The Ertegün
Concert promoter felt the
result of the ongoing plans of
Jones, Page, and Bonham
would not be "called Led
Zeppelin" A spokesman for
guitarist Jimmy Page later
confirmed this, telling
RollingStone.com that a new
band featuring Page, bassist
John Paul Jones and drummer
Jason Bonham would not go
by the name Led Zeppelin
due to the absence of singer
Robert Plant. On January 7,
2009, Music Radar reported
that Jimmy Page's manager
Robert Mensch said that the
band had "tried out a few
singers, but no one worked
out, that was it. The whole
thing is completely over now.
There are absolutely no plans
for them to continue." In a
radio interview, Plant cited a
fear of disappointment as a
major factor for not
continuing a reunited
Zeppelin. "The
disappointment that could be
there once you commit to
that and the comparisons to
something that was basically
fired by youth and a different
kind of exhuberance to now,
it's very hard to go back and
meet that head on and do it
justice.
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