Formation
In 1966, London-based session guitarist Jimmy Page joined the blues-influenced rock band the Yardbirds to
replace bassist Paul Samwell-Smith. Page soon switched from bass to lead guitar, creating a dual lead
guitar line-up with Jeff
Beck. Following Beck's departure in October 1966, the Yardbirds, tired from constant touring and
recording, began to
wind down. Page wanted to form a supergroup with Beck and him on guitars, and the Who's Keith Moon and
John Entwistle
on drums and bass, respectively. Vocalists Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott were also considered for the
project.
The group never formed, although Page, Beck, and Moon did record a song together in 1966, "Beck's Bolero",
in a session
that also included bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones.
The Yardbirds played their final gig in July 1968 at Luton College of Technology in Bedfordshire. They
were still committed to several concerts in Scandinavia, so drummer Jim McCarty and vocalist Keith Relf
authorised Page and bassist Chris Dreja to use the Yardbirds' name to fulfill the band's obligations. Page
and Dreja began putting a new line-up together. Page's first choice for the lead singer was Terry Reid,
but Reid declined the offer and suggested Robert Plant, a singer for the Band of Joy and Hobbstweedle.
Plant eventually accepted the position, recommending former Band of Joy drummer John Bonham. John Paul
Jones enquired about the vacant position of bass guitarist, at the suggestion of his wife, after Dreja
dropped out of the project to become a photographer. Page had known Jones since they were both session
musicians, and agreed to let him join as the final member.
In August 1968, the four played together for the first time in a room below a record store on Gerrard
Street in
London. Page suggested that they attempt "Train Kept A-Rollin'", originally a jump blues song popularised
in a
rockabilly version by Johnny Burnette, which had been covered by the Yardbirds. "As soon as I heard John
Bonham play",
Jones recalled, "I knew this was going to be great ... We locked together as a team immediately". Before
leaving for
Scandinavia, the group took part in a recording session for the P. J. Proby album Three Week Hero. The
album's track
"Jim's Blues", with Plant on harmonica, was the first studio track to feature all four future members of
Led
Zeppelin.
The band completed the Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds, playing together for the first time in
front of a live
audience at Gladsaxe Teen Clubs in Gladsaxe, Denmark, on 7 September 1968. Later that month, they began
recording
their first album, which was based on their live set. The album was recorded and mixed in nine days, and
Page covered
the costs. After the album's completion, the band were forced to change their name after Dreja issued a
cease and
desist letter, stating that Page was allowed to use the New Yardbirds moniker for the Scandinavian dates
only. One
account of how the new band's name was chosen held that Moon and Entwistle had suggested that a supergroup
with Page and
Beck would go down like a "lead balloon", an idiom for disastrous results. The group dropped the 'a' in
lead at the
suggestion of their manager, Peter Grant, so that those unfamiliar with the term would not pronounce it
"leed". The
word "balloon" was replaced by "zeppelin", a word which, according to music journalist Keith Shadwick,
brought "the
perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace" to Page's mind.
Grant secured a $143,000 advance contract ($1,051,000 today) from Atlantic Records in November 1968—at
the time, the
biggest deal of its kind for a new band. Atlantic was a label with a catalogue of mainly blues, soul, and
jazz
artists, but in the late 1960s it began to take an interest in British progressive rock acts. Record
executives signed
Led Zeppelin without having ever seen them. Under the terms of their contract, the band had autonomy in
deciding
when they would release albums and tour, and had the final say over the contents and design of each album.
They would
also decide how to promote each release and which tracks to release as singles. They formed their own
company,
Superhype, to handle all publishing rights.
Early Years: 1968 - 1970
The band began their first tour of the UK on 4 October 1968, still billed as the New Yardbirds; they
played their first
show as Led Zeppelin at the University of Surrey in Battersea on 25 October. Tour manager Richard Cole,
who would
become a major figure in the touring life of the group, organised their first North American tour at the
end of the
year. Their debut album, Led Zeppelin, was released in the US during the tour on 12 January 1969 and
peaked at
number 10 on the Billboard chart; it was released in the UK, where it peaked at number 6, on 31 March.
According
to Steve Erlewine, the album's memorable guitar riffs, lumbering rhythms, psychedelic blues, groovy,
bluesy shuffles and
hints of English folk music made it "a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy
metal".
In their first year Led Zeppelin completed four US and four UK concert tours, and also released their
second album, Led
Zeppelin II. Recorded mostly on the road at various North American studios, it was an even greater
commercial success
than their first album, and reached the number one chart position in the US and the UK. The album further
developed
the mostly blues-rock musical style established on their debut release, creating a sound that was "heavy
and hard,
brutal and direct", and which would be highly influential and frequently imitated. Steve Waksman has
suggested that
Led Zeppelin II was "the musical starting point for heavy metal".
The band saw their albums as indivisible, complete listening experiences, disliking the re-editing of
existing tracks
for release as singles. Grant maintained an aggressive pro-album stance, particularly in the UK, where
there were few
radio and TV outlets for rock music. Without the band's consent, however, some songs were released as
singles,
particularly in the US. In 1969 an edited version of "Whole Lotta Love", a track from their second album,
was
released as a single in the US. It reached number four in the Billboard chart in January 1970, selling
over one million
copies and helping to cement the band's popularity. The group also increasingly shunned television
appearances,
citing their preference that their fans hear and see them in live concerts.
Following the release of their second album, Led Zeppelin completed several more US tours. They played
initially in
clubs and ballrooms, and then in larger auditoriums as their popularity grew. Some early Led Zeppelin
concerts lasted
more than four hours, with expanded and improvised live versions of their repertoire. Many of these shows
have been
preserved as bootleg recordings. It was during this period of intensive concert touring that the band
developed a
reputation for off-stage excess.
In 1970, Page and Plant retired to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, to commence work on their
third album, Led
Zeppelin III. The result was a more acoustic style that was strongly influenced by folk and Celtic music,
and
showcased the band's versatility. The album's rich acoustic sound initially received mixed reactions, with
critics and
fans surprised at the turn from the primarily electric arrangements of the first two albums, further
fuelling the band's
hostility to the musical press. It reached number one in the UK and US charts, but its stay would be the
shortest of
their first five albums. The album's opening track, "Immigrant Song", was released as a US single in
November 1970
against the band's wishes, reaching the top twenty on the Billboard chart.
"The Biggest Band in the World" : 1971 - 1975
During the 1970s, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success that made them one
of the most
influential groups of the era, eclipsing their earlier achievements. The band's image also changed as the
members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing, with Page taking the lead on the flamboyant
appearance by wearing
a glittering moon-and-stars outfit. Led Zeppelin changed their show by using things such as lasers,
professional light
shows and mirror balls. They began travelling in a private jet airliner, a Boeing 720 (nicknamed the
Starship),
rented out entire sections of hotels (including the Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, known
colloquially as the
"Riot House"), and became the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery. One 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 group being banned from that establishment for life. 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 exaggerated. According to music journalist Chris Welch, "[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".
Led Zeppelin released their fourth album on 8 November 1971. It is variously referred to as Led Zeppelin
IV, Untitled,
IV, or, due to the four symbols appearing on the record label, as Four Symbols, Zoso or Runes. The band
had wanted
to release the fourth album with no title or information, in response to the music press "going on about
Zeppelin being
a hype", but the record company wanted something on the cover, so in discussions it was agreed to have
four symbols to
represent both the four members of the band, and that it was the fourth album. With 37 million copies
sold, Led
Zeppelin IV is one of the best-selling albums in history, and its massive popularity cemented Led
Zeppelin's status as
superstars in the 1970s. By 2006, it had sold 23 million copies in the United States alone. The track
"Stairway to Heaven", never released as a single, was the most requested and most played song on American
rock radio in
the 1970s. The group followed up the album's release with tours of the UK, Australasia, North America,
Japan, and
the UK again from late 1971 through early 1973.
Led Zeppelin's next album, Houses of the Holy, was released in March 1973. It featured further
experimentation by the
band, who expanded their use of synthesisers and mellotron orchestration. The predominantly orange album
cover, designed
by the London-based design group Hipgnosis, depicts images of nude children climbing the Giant's Causeway
in Northern
Ireland. Although the children are not shown from the front, the cover was controversial at the time of
the album's
release. As with the band's fourth album, neither their name nor the album title was printed on the
sleeve.
Houses of the Holy topped charts worldwide, and the band's subsequent concert tour of North America in
1973 broke
records for attendance, as they consistently filled large auditoriums and stadiums. At Tampa Stadium in
Florida, they
played to 56,800 fans, breaking the record set by the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert and grossing
$309,000.
Three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a motion picture, but the
theatrical
release of this project (The Song Remains the Same) was delayed until 1976. Before the final night's
performance,
$180,000 ($1,037,000 today) of the band's money from gate receipts was stolen from a safe deposit box at
the Drake
Hotel.
In 1974, Led Zeppelin took a break from touring and launched their own record label, Swan Song, named
after an
unreleased song. The record label's logo is based on a drawing called Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by
William Rimmer. The
drawing features a figure of a winged human-like being interpreted as either Apollo or Icarus. The logo
can
be found on 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, the Pretty Things
and Maggie
Bell. The label was successful while Led Zeppelin existed, but folded less than three years after they
disbanded.
In 1975, Led Zeppelin's double album Physical Graffiti was their first release on the Swan Song label. It
consisted of
fifteen songs, of which eight had been recorded at Headley Grange in 1974 and seven had been recorded
earlier. A review
in Rolling Stone magazine referred to Physical Graffiti as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic
respectability", adding that
the only bands Led Zeppelin had to compete with for the title "The World's Best Rock Band" were the
Rolling Stones and
the Who. The album was a massive commercial 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
North American tour, now employing sophisticated sound and lighting systems. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin
played
five sold-out nights at the Earls Court Arena in London, at the time the largest arena in Britain.
Hiatus from touring and return: 1975 - 1977
Following their triumphant Earls Court appearances, Led Zeppelin took a holiday and planned an autumn
tour in America,
scheduled to open with two outdoor dates in San Francisco. In August 1975, however, Plant and his wife
Maureen were
involved in a serious car crash while on holiday in Rhodes, Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle and
Maureen was badly
injured; a blood transfusion saved her life. Unable to tour, he 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. During
this forced hiatus 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 a mixed reaction among fans and
the music
press, with some critics suggesting that the band's excesses may have caught up with them. Page had begun
using
heroin during recording sessions for the album, a habit which may have affected the band's later live
shows and studio
recordings, although he has since denied this.
Because of Plant's injuries, Led Zeppelin did not tour in 1976. Instead, the band completed the concert
film The Song
Remains the Same and the accompanying soundtrack album. The film premiered in New York City on 20 October
1976, but was
given a lukewarm reception by critics and fans. The film was particularly unsuccessful in the UK, where,
unwilling to
tour since 1975 because of their tax exile status, Led Zeppelin faced an uphill battle to recapture the
public's
affection.
In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another major concert tour of North America. The band set another
attendance record,
with an audience of 76,229 at their Silverdome concert on 30 April. It was, according to the Guinness Book
of
Records, the largest attendance to that date for a single act show. Although the tour was financially
profitable, it
was beset by off-stage problems. On 19 April, over 70 people were arrested as about 1,000 fans tried to
gatecrash
Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum for two sold-out concerts, while others tried to gain entry by throwing
rocks and bottles
through glass doors. On 3 June, a concert at Tampa Stadium was cut short because of a severe thunderstorm,
despite
tickets indicating "Rain or Shine". A riot broke out, resulting in arrests and injuries.
After 23 July show at the Day on the Green festival at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California,
Bonham and members
of Led Zeppelin's support staff were arrested after a member of promoter Bill Graham's staff was badly
beaten during the
band's performance. The following day's second Oakland concert was the group's final live appearance in
the
United States. Two days later, as they checked in at a French Quarter hotel for their 30 July performance
at the
Louisiana Superdome, Plant received news that his five-year-old son, Karac, had died from a stomach virus.
The rest of
the tour was immediately cancelled, prompting widespread speculation about Led Zeppelin's future.
Bonham's death and breakup: 1978 - 1980
In November 1978, the group recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The resulting album, In
Through the Out
Door, featured sonic experimentation that again drew mixed reactions from critics. Nevertheless, the album
reached
number one in the UK and the US in just its second week of release. With this album's release, Led
Zeppelin's entire
catalogue returned to the Billboard Top 200 in the weeks of 27 October and 3 November 1979.
In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined two concerts at the
Knebworth Music
Festival, playing to a crowd of approximately 104,000 on the first night. 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.
On 27 June, at
a show in Nuremberg, Germany, the concert came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the third song, when
Bonham collapsed
onstage and was rushed to hospital. Speculation in the press suggested that his collapse had been the
result of
excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.
A North American tour, the band's first since 1977, was scheduled to commence on 17 October 1980. On 24
September,
Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios. During the
journey,
Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (from 16 to 24 US fl oz (470 to
710 ml)), with
a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant, "breakfast". He continued to
drink heavily
after arriving at the studio. The rehearsals were halted late that evening and the band retired to Page's
house—the Old
Mill House in Clewer, Windsor.
After midnight, Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side. At 1:45 pm the
next day, Benji
LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones found Bonham dead. The cause of death was
asphyxiation
from vomit; the finding was accidental death. An autopsy found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's
body.
Although he had recently begun to take Motival (a cocktail of the antipsychotic fluphenazine and the
tricyclic
antidepressant nortriptyline) to combat his anxiety, it is unclear if these substances interacted with the
alcohol in
his system. Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980, at Rushock parish
church,
Worcestershire.
The planned North American tour was cancelled, and 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. A 4
December 1980 press statement stated that, "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." The statement was signed simply "Led Zeppelin".
Post-breakup: 1980s
Following Zeppelin's dissolution, the first significant project for the members was the Honeydrippers,
which Plant
initially formed in 1981, and which released its only album in 1984. The group featured Page on lead
guitar, along with
studio musicians and friends of the pair, including Jeff Beck, Paul Shaffer, and Nile Rodgers. Plant
focused on a
different direction from Zeppelin, playing standards and in a more R&B style, highlighted by a cover of
"Sea of Love"
that peaked at number three on the Billboard chart in early 1985.
Coda – a collection of Zeppelin outtakes and unused tracks – was issued in November 1982. It included two
tracks from
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 Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects
added by 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 solo band. The performance was marred by a
lack of
rehearsal with the two drummers, Page's struggles with an out-of-tune guitar, poorly functioning monitors,
and Plant's
hoarse voice. Page described the performance as "pretty shambolic", while Plant characterised it as an
"atrocity".
The three members reunited again on 14 May 1988, for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with
Bonham's son
Jason on drums. The result was again disjointed: Plant and Page had argued immediately prior to taking the
stage about
whether to play "Stairway to Heaven", and Jones' keyboards were absent from the live television feed. Page
described the performance as "one big disappointment" and Plant said "the gig was foul".
1990s
The first Led Zeppelin box set, featuring tracks remastered under Page's supervision, was released in
1990 and bolstered
the band's reputation, leading to abortive discussions among members about a reunion. This set included
four
previously unreleased tracks, including a version of Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues". The
song peaked
at number seven on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.[96] Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2 was released in
1993; the two box
sets together contained all known studio recordings, as well as some rare live tracks.
In 1994, Page and Plant reunited for 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 a rift between the band members, as Jones was not even
told of the
reunion.
In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith. Jason and Zoë 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 one
brief set
with Tyler and Perry, with Jason Bonham on drums, and then a second with Neil Young, this time with
Michael Lee playing
the drums.
In 1997, Atlantic released a single edit of "Whole Lotta Love" in the US and the UK, the only single the
band released
in their homeland, where it peaked at number 21. November 1997 saw the release of Led Zeppelin BBC
Sessions, a
two-disc set largely recorded in 1969 and 1971. Page and Plant released another album called Walking into
Clarksdale in 1998, featuring all new material, but after disappointing sales, the partnership dissolved
before a
planned Australian tour.
2000s
2003 saw the release of the triple live album How the West Was Won, and Led Zeppelin DVD, a six-hour
chronological set
of live footage that became the best-selling music DVD in history. In July 2007, Atlantic/Rhino and Warner
Home
Video announced three Zeppelin titles to be released that November: Mothership, a 24-track best-of
spanning the band's
career; a reissue of the soundtrack The Song Remains the Same, including previously unreleased material;
and a new
DVD. Zeppelin also made their catalogue legally available for download, becoming one of the last major
rock
bands to do so.
On 10 December 2007, Zeppelin reunited for the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 Arena in London,
with Jason
Bonham again taking his father's place on drums. According to Guinness World Records 2009, the show set a
record for the
"Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" as 20 million requests were submitted online. Critics
praised
the performance and there was widespread speculation about a full reunion. Page, Jones and Jason Bonham
were
reported to be willing to tour, and to be working on material for a new Zeppelin project. Plant continued
his
touring commitments with Alison Krauss, stating in September 2008 that he would not record or tour with
the
band. "I told them I was busy and they'd simply have to wait," he recalled in 2014. "I would come around
eventually, which they were fine with – at least to my knowledge. But it turns out they weren't. And
what's even more
disheartening, Jimmy used it against me."
Jones and Page reportedly looked for a replacement for Plant; candidates including Steven Tyler of
Aerosmith, and Myles
Kennedy of Alter Bridge. However, in January 2009, it was confirmed that the project had been abandoned.
"Getting the opportunity to play with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham was pretty special,"
Kennedy
recalled. "That is pretty much the zenith right there. That was a crazy, good experience. It's something I
still think
of often ... It's so precious to me."
2010s and beyond
A film of the O2 performance, Celebration Day, premiered on 17 October 2012 and was released on DVD on 19
November.
The film grossed $2 million in one night, and the live album peaked at number 4 and 9 in the UK and US,
respectively. Following the film's premiere, Page revealed that he had been remastering the band's
discography. The first wave of albums, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, and Led Zeppelin III, were released
on 2 June
2014. The second wave of albums, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy, were released on 27 October 2014.
Physical Graffiti was released on 23 February 2015, almost exactly forty years to the day after the
original
release. The fourth and final wave of studio album reissues, Presence, In Through the Out Door, and Coda,
were
released on 31 July 2015.
Through this remastering project, each studio album was reissued on CD and vinyl and was also available
in a Deluxe
Edition, which contained a bonus disc of previously unheard material (Coda's Deluxe Edition would include
two bonus
discs). Each album was also available in a Super Deluxe Edition Box Set, which included the remastered
album and bonus
disc on both CD and 180-gram vinyl, a high-definition audio download card of all content at 96 kHz/24 bit,
a hard bound
book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia, and a high quality print of the
original album
cover.
On 6 November 2015, the Mothership compilation was reissued using the band's newly remastered audio
tracks. The
reissuing campaign continued the next year with the re-release of BBC Sessions on 16 September 2016. The
reissue
contained a bonus disc with nine unreleased BBC recordings, including the heavily bootlegged but never
officially
released "Sunshine Woman".
To commemorate the band's 50th anniversary, Page, Plant and Jones announced an official illustrated book
celebrating 50
years since the formation of the band. Also released for the celebration was a reissue of How the West Was
Won on
23 March 2018, which includes the album's first pressing on vinyl. For Record Store Day on 21 April 2018,
Led
Zeppelin released a 7" single "Rock and Roll" (Sunset Sound Mix)/"Friends" (Olympic Studio Mix), their
first single in
21 years.