Led Zeppelin (music group)

Led Zeppelin was a British rock band active principally from 1968 to 1980. Consisting of founder and guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham, the band played a blend of hard rock, blues, and acoustic folk music to great success throughout the 1970s. With more than one hundred million albums sold in the United States alone, Led Zeppelin was one of the most successful rock acts of its time. The group disbanded in 1980 following the death of Bonham. Page, Plant, and Jones went on to release multiple solo albums into the twenty-first century, and the trio reunited as Led Zeppelin at a concert in London in 2007. Music critics consistently consider Led Zeppelin one of the most influential rock bands ever.

Background

Led Zeppelin was organized and founded primarily by British guitarist Jimmy Page in London in 1968. Page had played with the rock band the Yardbirds since the mid-1960s, but the band broke up in 1968. Page owned the rights to the Yardbirds' name and was contractually obligated to play a string of the band's scheduled tour dates that fall. To form a new band, Page first recruited bassist and musical arranger John Paul Jones, who knew Page from their time playing together in other musicians' record sessions.

Page then wanted singer Terry Reid to join the band, but Reid was unavailable. He suggested that Page instead pursue singer Robert Plant, who was singing in his own band at the time. Plant agreed to join Page's new group while also recommending his former bandmate John Bonham as a drummer. Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham eventually agreed to play together as the New Yardbirds. The band fulfilled the Yardbirds' scheduled concert dates in Scandinavia in the fall of 1968 and then returned to England.

Around this time, Page learned that he owned the rights to the Yardbirds' name only for live shows. The band therefore changed its name to Led Zeppelin. The group's manager, Peter Grant, soon secured the band a lucrative recording contract with the American record label Atlantic Records. In late 1968, Led Zeppelin recorded what would become its debut album, Led Zeppelin, featuring songs such as "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times." The album was released to impressive sales in early 1969 while Led Zeppelin was touring the United States with the rock band Vanilla Fudge. Within two months, Led Zeppelin had reached the Billboard Top 10 list.

Mainstream Success

Led Zeppelin toured extensively in the United States and the United Kingdom throughout 1969. The band recorded its second album, Led Zeppelin II, while on tour. The album combined the group's blues and rock influences for a heavy, guitar riff–driven sound on songs such as "Bring It On Home," "The Lemon Song," and "Whole Lotta Love." Led Zeppelin II was released in October of 1969 to positive reviews and outstanding sales. It soon appeared at the top of the American music charts and helped define Led Zeppelin as a major new force of rock and roll.

Led Zeppelin III was released in late 1970. It featured a new sound for the band, a mixture of softer folk music alongside the group's more familiar hard rock. The next year, Led Zeppelin released what would become its best-selling album, its officially untitled fourth album, commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV. The record combined a hard rock sound with lyrics referencing mysticism and mythology. Songs on the album included "Black Dog," "When the Levee Breaks," and "Stairway to Heaven," a power ballad that became a popular radio hit and one of the band's signature songs.

Led Zeppelin thereafter became one of the most well-known and commercially successful rock acts in the world. Its 1973 American tour broke ticket-sale records. New albums released over the next few years, Houses of the Holy (1973) and Physical Graffiti (1975), earned glowing reviews and sold millions of copies. The band's concert schedule to this point had been grueling, but a late 1975 car accident involving Plant and his family forced Led Zeppelin to ease its touring.

The band recorded its next album, Presence, as Plant was recovering from his injuries. It contained blues songs such as "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Tea for One" alongside more traditional rock songs such as "Royal Orleans" and "Hots On for Nowhere." Presence was released in 1976 to slightly more sluggish sales and only moderate reviews. In the summer of 1977, as the band was in the midst of its American tour, Plant's five-year-old son Karac died suddenly from a stomach virus. Led Zeppelin immediately canceled the rest of its tour. The group ultimately took off the next year and a half as Plant grieved his loss.

Led Zeppelin returned to the studio in late 1978 to record what would become its final studio album of new songs, In Through the Out Door. The album, released in 1979, sold well but garnered average reviews. The band completed its final European tour in the summer of 1980. In the following weeks, the group began rehearsing for an upcoming American tour. However, in September of 1980, Bonham died of asphyxiation in his bed after an alcohol binge.

In early December of 1980, Page, Plant, and Jones released a statement saying that Led Zeppelin would permanently disband, as Bonham's loss would prevent the group from ever being the same again. Led Zeppelin officially ended its twelve-year run that year. The band released one additional album—Coda, a collection of previously unreleased outtakes—in 1982.

Page, Plant, and Jones began solo careers soon after the breakup. A Led Zeppelin performance at the fundraiser concert Live Aid in 1985 started rumors of a full reunion tour, but this never occurred. The three surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited again in 2007 for one show at the O2 Arena in London, with Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham, taking his father's place on drums. Page remastered and rereleased the entire Led Zeppelin catalog in the mid-2010s.

Bibliography

Bordowitz, Hank, editor. Led Zeppelin on Led Zeppelin: Interviews and Encounters. Chicago Review Press, Inc., 2014.

Calef, Scott, editor. Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed. Open Court, 2009.

Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Led Zeppelin—Biography." All Music, www.allmusic.com/artist/led-zeppelin-mn0000139026/biography. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

Giles, Jeff. "The Tragic Loss That Changed Led Zeppelin Forever." Ultimate Classic Rock, 26 July 2015, ultimateclassicrock.com/led-zeppelin-robert-plant-son-dies/. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

Grow, Cory. "Led Zeppelin Win in 'Stairway to Heaven' Trial." Rolling Stone, 23 June 2016, www.rollingstone.com/music/news/led-zeppelin-prevail-in-stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit-20160623. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

"Jimmy Page Bio." Rolling Stone, www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/jimmy-page/biography. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

"Led Zeppelin Bio." Rolling Stone, www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/led-zeppelin/biography. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

"Led Zeppelin—Discography." All Music, www.allmusic.com/artist/led-zeppelin-mn0000139026/discography. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

Wall, Mick. When Giants Walked the Earth: A Biography of Led Zeppelin. St. Martin's Press, 2008.