(Credits: Far Out / Led Zeppelin)
Wed 21 May 2025 18:45, UK
As one of rock and roll’s finest frontmen, Robert Plant needs little introduction. Although bizarrely, he was not the first choice to be Led Zeppelin’s enigmatic frontman, it is difficult to imagine anybody else belting out ‘Immigrant Song’ with such grace and infallible style. Zeppelin made a rock god out of the Black Country vocalist. Yet, for a number of years after the band’s demise, Plant appeared to turn his back on the band’s repertoire indefinitely, abandoning that hard rock style seemingly for good.
It was a rousing rendition of Jefferson Airplane’s hippie anthem ‘Somebody To Love’ which first earned Plant a spot in Led Zeppelin, after Terry Reid turned down the opportunity. Still, his distinctive voice and expansive range made him a natural fit for the group, and his tones were utterly essential to the band’s success. What’s more, the intense and rapid success of the hard rock progenitors introduced Plant to an entirely new life, establishing him as one of Britain’s archetypal rock stars.
Still, the timeline of Led Zeppelin was not without its difficulties. The unparalleled level of success achieved by the band, coupled with their constant touring schedule, tireless studio sessions, and all the trappings of rock and roll excess, certainly took its toll on the group. Despite this fatigue and the tensions between band members, which came and went, the group managed to stay together for a little over a decade, producing eight iconic studio albums during that time.
The demise of Led Zeppelin resulted from tragic circumstances, with the group brought to an end by the death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. Following the disbandment, each member went their own seperate ways, embarking upon respective solo careers. Plant was no different, but his early solo material seemed worlds apart from the hard rock stylings of Led Zeppelin, almost by design.
Perhaps resulting from a fatigue of performing the same songs for over a decade, or perhaps due to the tragic passing of Bonham, Plant appeared to turn his back on the band that made him a star. In 1982, giving his first post-Zeppelin interview to Geoff Barton, he strongly rejected any idea that the band could reunite. “There’s absolutely no point. No point at all,” he said. “There’s certain people you don’t do without in life. You don’t keep things going for the sake of it.”
Continuing, the vocalist did admit some nostalgia for his work with the band, sharing, “When you’ve been with a bloke for 14 years, you naturally miss certain parts, musically and personality-wise.” However, he also noted, “There’s a long way to go before I stop singing, and right now I’m having a great time with my own guys.” As a result, Page was content to sing his own style of solo music, rather than belting out the greatest hits of his old band.
Eventually, though, the singer reconciled with his rock and roll history, reuniting with his former bandmates for a disastrous set at Live Aid in 1985, before incorporating certain Zeppelin anthems into his solo setlists. “I’ve stopped apologising to myself for having this great period of success and financial acceptance,” he shared with Rolling Stone at the time, reverting back to a hard rock style on his 1988 album Now and Zen.
“It’s [time] to get on and enjoy it now,” he said of the Now and Zen tour. I want to have a great time instead of making all these excuses.” He appeared to revel in the experience of revisiting his old material around that time, sharing, “I feel regenerated singing them. It’s very powerful stuff.” It seems nobody can resist the allure of Led Zeppelin’s hard rock mastery for more than a couple of years.
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