Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band that formed in September 1968. Led Zeppelin consisted of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal bands. Their rock-infused interpretation of the blues and folk genres also incorporated rockabilly, reggae, soul, funk, jazz, classical, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin, and country. The band did not release the popular songs from their albums as singles in the UK, as they preferred to develop the concept of album-oriented rock.

Over 25 years after disbanding following Bonham's death in 1980, Led Zeppelin continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence. The band have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, including 109.5 million sales in the United States, and they are the only band to have had all their albums reach the U.S. Billboard Top 10. Led Zeppelin are ranked No. 1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

On December 10, 2007 the surviving members of Led Zeppelin reunited for the Ahmet Ertegün tribute show at The O₂ in London .

History of Led Zeppelin

The early days (1968–1970)

The New Yardbirds

The beginnings of Led Zeppelin can be traced back to the English blues-influenced rock band The Yardbirds. Page joined The Yardbirds in 1966 to play bass guitar after the original bassist, Paul Samwell-Smith, left the group. Shortly after, Page switched from bass to second lead guitar, creating a dual-lead guitar line up with Jeff Beck.

Following the departure of Beck from the group in October 1966, The Yardbirds, tired from constant touring and recording, were beginning to wind down. Page wanted to form a supergroup with himself and Beck on guitars, and The Who's rhythm section - drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle. Vocalists Donovan, 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", which is featured on Beck's 1968 album, Truth. The recording session also included bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones, who told Page that he would be interested in collaborating with him on future projects.

The Yardbirds played their final gig in July 1968. However, they were still committed to performing several concerts in Scandinavia, so drummer Jim McCarty and vocalist Keith Relf authorised Page and bassist Chris Dreja to use the Yardbirds name to fulfil the band's obligations. Page and Dreja began putting a new line-up together. Page's first choice for lead singer, Terry Reid, declined the offer, but suggested Robert Plant, a West Bromwich singer he knew. Plant eventually accepted the position, recommending a drummer, John Bonham from nearby Redditch. When Dreja opted out of the project to become a photographer—he would later take the photograph that appeared on the back of Led Zeppelin's debut album—John Paul Jones, at the suggestion of his wife, contacted Page about the vacant position. Being familiar with Jones' credentials, Page agreed to bring in Jones as the final piece.

The group played together on record the first time on the final day of sessions for the P. J. Proby album, Three Week Hero. Proby recalled, "Come the last day we found we had some studio time, so I just asked the band to play while I just came up with the words. ... They weren't Led Zeppelin at the time, they were the New Yardbirds and they were going to be my band."

The band completed the Scandinavian tour as The New Yardbirds. One account of the band's naming, which has become almost legendary, has it that Keith Moon and John Entwistle suggested that a possible supergroup containing themselves, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck would go down like a lead zeppelin, a term Entwistle used to describe a bad gig. The group deliberately dropped the 'a' in Lead at the suggestion of their manager, Peter Grant, to prevent "thick Americans" from pronouncing it as "leed".

Grant also secured an advance deal of $200,000 from Atlantic Records in November 1968, then the biggest deal of its kind for a new band. Atlantic was a label known for its catalogue of blues, soul and jazz artists, but in the late-1960s it began to take an interest in progressive British rock acts, and signed Led Zeppelin without having ever seen them, largely on the recommendation of singer Dusty Springfield. With their first album not yet released, Led Zeppelin made their live debut at the University of Surrey, Guildford on October 15, 1968. This was followed by a U.S. concert debut on December 26, 1968 (when promoter Barry Fey added them onto a bill in Denver, Colorado) before moving on to the west coast for dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.

Led Zeppelin (the first album)

Main article: Led Zeppelin (album)

The group's eponymous first album was released on January 12 1969, during their first US tour. Its 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.

In an interview for the Led Zeppelin Profiled radio promo CD (1990) Page said that the album took about 35 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 was 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.

Led Zeppelin II

Main article: Led Zeppelin II

In their first year of existence, Led Zeppelin managed to complete four US and four UK concert tours, as well as find time to release 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.

Led Zeppelin III

Main article: Led Zeppelin III

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", misspelled as "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on the album cover, which was a complete remake of Bert Jansch's song "The Waggoner's Lad"). Strongly influenced by folk and Celtic music, the album 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 by the band away from the primarily electric compositions of the first two albums. Over time, however, its reputation has recovered and Led Zeppelin III is now generally praised. It has a unique album cover featuring a wheel which, when rotated, displayed 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 (Atlantic had earlier released an edited version of "Whole Lotta Love" which cut the 5:34 song to 3:10, removing the abstract middle section). 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 person.

The album finishes with “Hats Off To (Roy) Harper”, a track dedicated to their influential contemporary, Roy Harper, that both honours Harper’s work and acknowledges the band’s roots in acoustic music.

"The biggest band in the world" (1971–1975)

The success of Led Zeppelin's early years would be dwarfed by this five-year period in which the band would release their best selling albums and ascend to musical success in the 1970s. The band's image also changed as members began to wear elaborate, colourful clothing. The band also had a reputation for off-stage wildness and excess. 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. The band was known for trashing their hotel suites, and throwing television sets out of the windows. Another example of Led Zeppelin excess was the infamous shark episode, or red snapper incident, which took place at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle, Washington, on July 28, 1969.

The fourth album

The four symbols on Led Zeppelin IV's cover, representing Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Robert Plant (from left to right) respectively. The symbols have origins in mysticism

Main article: Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin's fourth album was released on 8 November 1971. There was no indication of a title nor band name on the original cover, but on the LP label four symbols were printed—. The band were motivated to undertake this initiative by their disdain for the media, which labelled 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. 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. Recently (as of 2006) and until mid-2007, the song has been used prominently in Cadillac automobile commercials—one of the few instances of Led Zeppelin's surviving members licensing songs. The album also featured "Stairway to Heaven" (), which became a massive album-oriented rock FM radio hit despite never being released as a single. The song has been controversial due to unsubstantiated but repeated claims of "satanic" back masked messages. 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.

As of July 31, 2006, has sold 23 million copies in the U.S., making it one of the top four best selling albums in the history of the U.S. music industry. Worldwide, it ranks at number eleven in album sales.

Houses of the Holy

Main article: Houses of the Holy

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 striking orange album cover of "Houses of the Holy" features 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 highly 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.

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, although it is often misinterpreted as a picture of Icarus, Daedalus, Satan, or Lucifer. 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 would be successful while Led Zeppelin existed, but folded less than three years after they disbanded.

Physical Graffiti

Main article: Physical Graffiti

February 24, 1975 saw the release of Led Zeppelin's first double album, Physical Graffiti, which was the 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.

The latter days (1976–1980)

By 1976, Led Zeppelin were becoming increasingly popular worldwide, having outsold most bands of the time, including the Rolling Stones. Their live shows increased even further in theatricality, featuring larger stage areas and complex light shows. However, while there were still massive musical and commercial successes for the band during this period, problems such as the 1977 death of Robert Plant's son, Jimmy Page's heroin use, changing musical tastes, and ultimately John Bonham's 1980 death finally brought an end to Led Zeppelin.

Presence

Main article: Presence (album)

Following their triumphant Earls Court appearances, Led Zeppelin took an unplanned break from touring. In August 1975, 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 very badly injured; a blood transfusion saved her life. 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.

Released in March 1976, the album 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. While many appreciated the looser style, others dismissed it as "sloppy", and some critics speculated that the band members' legendary excesses might have finally caught up with them, resulting in a sub-standard album release. 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. Robert Plant has also stated that he thinks Presence is the album that probably sounds the most "Led Zeppelin" of all their LPs.

The concert film (The Song Remains the Same)

Main article: The Song Remains the Same (film)

File:Oakland1977.jpg

Poster for Led Zeppelin's twin concerts at Oakland, July 1977

Robert 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. It would be the only official live document of the group available until the release of the BBC Sessions in 1997. 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 October 20, 1976, but was not well received by critics or fans. The film was particularly unsuccessful in the UK, where, after eight years of recording and touring, and in the wake of the punk rock revolution, Led Zeppelin were now considered to be obsolete in some quarters.

In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another massive concert tour of North America. Though profitable financially, the tour was beset with off-stage problems. On June 3, after a concert at Tampa Stadium was cut short because of a severe thunderstorm, a riot broke out amongst the audience, resulting in several arrests and injuries.

After a July 23 show at the "Days on the Green" festival at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, John Bonham and members of the band's support staff (including manager Peter Grant and security co-ordinator 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; when Grant heard about this, he went into the trailer, along with Bindon and John Bonham, and savagely assaulted the man.

The following day's second Oakland concert would prove be the band's final live appearance in the United States. After the performance, news came that Plant's five year old son, Karac, had died from a stomach virus. The rest of the tour was immediately cancelled.

In Through the Out Door

Main article: In Through The Out Door

December 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.

In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined two concerts at the Knebworth music festival, where crowds of close to 120,000 witnessed the return of the band. However, Robert 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 June 27, 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. 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 July 7, at Berlin.

"A tragic end"

On September 24, 1980, John 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. During the journey Bonham had asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (sixteen shots-or roughly 400ml-of vodka), 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. Benji LeFevre (who had replaced Richard Cole as Led Zeppelin's tour manager) and John Paul Jones found him dead the next morning. Bonham was 32 years old.

The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit. A subsequent autopsy found no other drugs in Bonham's body. The alcoholism that had plagued the drummer since his earliest days with the band ultimately led to his death. Bonham was cremated on October 10, 1980, at Rushock parish church in Worcestershire.

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 Led Zeppelin after Bonham's death. They issued a press statement on December 4, 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 (1980–present)

1980s

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".

1985 reunion

On July 13, 1985 Page, Plant and Jones reunited at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, for a short set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins. Collins had played on Plant's first two solo albums. Page had described the performance as "pretty shambolic."

When Live Aid footage was released on a four-DVD set in late 2004, the group unanimously agreed not to allow footage from their performance to be used, agreeing that it was not up to their usual standards. However, to show their ongoing support Page and Plant pledged proceeds from their forthcoming Page and Plant DVD release to the campaign and John Paul Jones pledged the proceeds of his then-current U.S. tour with Mutual Admiration Society to the project.

1988 reunion

The three members reunited again in May of 1988, for Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums. However, the performance was widely criticized for being 'flat' and for Page's poor guitar playing.

1990s

Page and Plant reunited in 1994 for an MTV Unplugged performance (dubbed Unledded) which eventually led to a world tour with a Middle Eastern orchestra, and a live album entitled No Quarter. The bass player was Charlie Jones, who had been the bassist with Plant's own band for several years. Many see this as the beginning of discord with John Paul Jones, who was upset with Page and Plant for touring without asking him first. Tensions were further increased when Plant was asked at a press conference where Jones was, and he jokingly replied that Jones was parking the car.

1995 reunion

On January 12, 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were inducted 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 August 29, 1997, Atlantic released a single edit of "Whole Lotta Love" in the U.S. and the UK, making it the only Led Zeppelin 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.

November 11, 1997 saw 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 continued their renewed collaboration through 1998, releasing a critically acclaimed CD of all original Page-Plant compositions called Walking Into Clarksdale, which won a Grammy for best rock song ("Most High"), and was supported by another world tour, which the duo called "Walking Into Everywhere". Eschewing the Middle Eastern orchestra of the 1995 world tour, the 1998 shows were an all-out rock and roll show, highlighting classic Led Zeppelin material, along with Page and Plant originals from the "No Quarter" and "Walking Into Clarksdale" CDs.

On November 29, 1999 the RIAA announced that the band was only the third act in music history to achieve four or more Diamond albums.

2000s

In October 2002, the British press reported that Robert Plant and John Paul Jones had reconciled after a 20-year feud which had kept Led Zeppelin apart, and rumours surfaced of a reunion tour in 2003. This was later denied by Plant and Page's management company.

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. At the year's end, the DVD had sold more than 520,000 copies. Around Christmas 2004, "Stairway To Heaven" was voted the best rock song of all time by Planet Rock listeners in a poll conducted on the station's website. Two other Led Zeppelin songs were also featured in the top ten - "Whole Lotta Love" at number six and "Rock and Roll" at number eight.

In 2005, Led Zeppelin received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and readers of Guitar World magazine voted the guitar solo from "Stairway to Heaven" to be the best rock guitar solo of all time. Led Zeppelin ranked #14 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 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.

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, playing the song "Communication Breakdown".

Members of Led Zeppelin have always been very protective of their repertoire, and have seldom allowed their works to be licensed for films or commercials. In recent years, their position has softened on the issue. The songs of Led Zeppelin can be heard in movies such as One Day in September, School of Rock, Shrek the Third ("Immigrant Song" in all three), Dogtown and Z-Boys ("Achilles Last Stand", Nobody's Fault but Mine, and "Hots on for Nowhere") and Almost Famous ("That's the Way", "The Rain Song", "Misty Mountain Hop", and "Tangerine") and Small Soldiers ("Communication Breakdown"). One Tree Hill is the first, and so far only network television show to license a Led Zeppelin song ("Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"). Also noteworthy is Cadillac's resurgent use of "Rock and Roll" in their US TV advertising campaign. Recently, Led Zeppelin have agreed to allow Apple to sell their music from the upcoming greatest hits collection Mothership from Apple's iTunes Store.

In April 2007 Hard Rock Park announced it had secured an agreement with the band to create "Led Zeppelin-The Ride" - a roller coaster built by B&M synchronised to the music of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. The coaster will stand 155 feet (47 m) tall, feature six inversions, and spiral over a lagoon. It will be found in the "Rock and Roll Heaven" section of Hard Rock Park. As of September 13, 2007, the ride track is complete. The park is aiming to conduct test runs in December. The park opens in May 2008 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

On June 25, 2007, World Entertainment News reported that Led Zeppelin had allegedly agreed to re-form for a special memorial concert in honour of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records who died in December 2006. It was also reported that if the concert went well, the band would go on tour in 2008. The same report suggested that the three surviving members would be joined on drums by John Bonham's son, Jason. However on June 28, Robert Plant made it appear at a press conference that the reunion discussions were false.

On July 27, 2007, Atlantic/Rhino, & Warner Home Video announced three new Led Zeppelin titles to be released in November, 2007. Released first will be Mothership on November 13, a 24-track best-of spanning the band's career, followed by a reissue of the soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same on November 20 which includes previously unreleased material, and a new DVD.

On October 15, 2007, www.news.com published an article 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 November 13. The offerings will be available through both Verizon Wireless and iTunes.

On November 3, 2007, a UK newspaper the Daily Mirror announced that it had world exclusive rights to stream six previously unreleased tracks via its website.

On November 8, 2007, XM Satellite Radio launched XM LED, the network's first artist-exclusive channel dedicated to Led Zeppelin.

On November 13, 2007, Led Zeppelin's complete works were published on iTunes.

2007 reunion

On September 12, 2007, it was confirmed during a press conference by promoter Harvey Goldsmith that the surviving members of Led Zeppelin would reunite in aid of the Ahmet Ertegün education fund for a show at The O2 in London on 26 November, 2007, with Jason Bonham filling in on drums. Tickets were made available via a lottery system through Ahmettribute.com, costing £125 / $250. with all proceeds going to Ahmet's own charity. The website exceeded its bandwidth allowance and crashed almost immediately following the announcement, with the promoter predicting that the gig would cause the "largest demand for one show in history", due to the ticket request site receiving one billion page impressions, with one million people registering for fewer than 20,000 available tickets. The tribute concert also featured Paul Rodgers, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Paolo Nutini, Chris Squire, Keith Emerson, Alan White, and Foreigner as supporting acts. Page has suggested the band may start work on new material and has more recently suggested that a world tour may be in the works.

On November 1, 2007, it was announced that Jimmy Page fractured the little finger on his left hand after a fall in his garden and the reunion show was postponed until December 10, 2007.

The set list from the reunion concert was:

1. "Good Times Bad Times"
2. "Ramble On"
3. "Black Dog"
4. "In My Time of Dying"
5. "For Your Life" (live debut)
6. "Trampled Under Foot"
7. "Nobody's Fault but Mine"
8. "No Quarter"
9. "Since I've Been Loving You"
10. "Dazed and Confused"
11. "Stairway to Heaven"
12. "The Song Remains the Same"
13. "Misty Mountain Hop"
14. "Kashmir"
    

First Encore:

15. "Whole Lotta Love"
    

Second Encore:

16. "Rock and Roll"
    

The show was filmed for a possible DVD release.

Music critics in attendance were unanimous in their praise for the band's performance. "What they have done here tonight is prove they can still perform to the level that originally earned them their legendary reputation," proclaimed Britain's New Musical Express. "We can only hope this isn't the last we see of them."

A number of celebrities attended the gig, including Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl who praised Jason Bonham's performance, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles, Lostprophets drummer Ilan Rubin, Paul McCartney, Brian May , David Gilmour, Oasis brothers Noel and Liam, Arctic Monkeys, U2's The Edge, Bernard Sumner, Dave Mustaine, Peter Gabriel, Mick Jagger, Juliette Lewis, Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, The Verve's Richard Ashcroft, Marilyn Manson and many more.

While Plant made his position regarding a reunion tour known to the Sunday Times ("The whole idea of being on a cavalcade of merciless repetition is not what it's all about"), 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."

Allegations of plagiarism

When Led Zeppelin's debut album was released, it received generally positive reviews. However, John Mendelsohn of Rolling Stone magazine criticized the band for stealing music, notably "Black Mountain Side" from Bert Jansch's "Black Water Side" (though Jansch himself acknowledges the song as being traditional) and the riff from "Your Time Is Gonna Come" from Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy". He also accused the band of mimicking black artists, and showing off, which is not exactly plagiarism. This marked the beginning of a long rift between the band and the magazine, with Led Zeppelin rejecting later requests for interviews and cover stories as their level of success escalated.

One song from the album, "Dazed and Confused", was a song originally written by Jake Holmes and appears on his 1967 album "The Above Ground Sound" of Jake Holmes. The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page's old band, had made a version called "I'm Confused", and Page reworked the song again for Led Zeppelin's debut recording, though Holmes having never received any royalty payments for their recording. Holmes did not file suit over the song, although he did send the band a letter stating "I understand it's a collaborative effort, but I think you should give me some credit at least and some remunity." He received no reply to his letter and he did not follow up on it. Holmes is however also reported to have said "what the hell, let him [Page] have it [Dazed and Confused]".

The credits for Led Zeppelin II's were also the subject of debate after the album's release. The prelude to "Bring It on Home" is a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bring it on Home" and drew comparisons with Willie Dixon's "Bring It on Back". "Whole Lotta Love" () shared some lyrics and an overall pattern with Dixon's "You Need Love/Woman You Need Love". In the 1970s, Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, brought a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement over "Bring It on Home" and won an out-of-court settlement. Dixon himself did not benefit until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and copyrights. Years later, Dixon filed suit against Led Zeppelin over "Whole Lotta Love" and an out-of-court settlement was reached. Later pressings of Led Zeppelin II credit Dixon. Similarly, the "Lemon Song", from the same album, was a cover of Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor". The band was successfully sued for copyright and forced to give credit to the original author of the song.

Two songs from the album "Physical Graffiti" have also come under scrutiny. "Boogie with Stu" is simply the Richie Valens song "Ooh! My head" retitled and "In My Time of Dying" is a traditional blues number (covered by Blind Willie Johnson and Bob Dylan among others), yet it is credited to Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham.. See also Dylan's Modern Times which has received similar criticisms.

The intro to "Stairway to Heaven" is argued to have been inspired from the Spirit song "Taurus" written by Randy California in 1968., and the stop-start structure of "Black Dog" can be argued to be inspired either by Mose Allison/The Who's "Young Man Blues" or Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well".

Other controversy

On February 28, 1970, Led Zeppelin were forced to change their name to "The Nobs" for their performance at the K.B. Hallen in Copenhagen, Denmark, due to the Countess Eva Von Zeppelin (heiress to the famous Graf Zeppelin airship company) threatening to sue for illegal use of their family name while performing in her home country. [6]

Discography

Main article: Led Zeppelin discography

Year	Studio Album	US	UK	RIAA Certification
1969	Led Zeppelin	10	6	10x Platinum
1969	Led Zeppelin II	1	1	12x Platinum
1970	Led Zeppelin III	1	1	6x Platinum
1971	Led Zeppelin IV	2	1	23x Platinum
1973	Houses of the Holy	1	1	11x Platinum
1975	Physical Graffiti	1	1	16x Platinum
1976	Presence	1	1	3x Platinum
1979	In Through the Out Door	1	1	6x Platinum

Filmography

Year	Title
1976	The Song Remains the Same
2003	Led Zeppelin DVD

Published sources

• Dave Lewis (2003), Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-056-4.
• Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4.
• Dave Lewis (2004) The Complete Guide to the Music of Led Zeppelin, London: Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-3528-9.
• Chris Welch (2006) Led Zeppelin: Dazed and Confused: The Stories Behind Every Song, Thunder's Mouth Press, ISBN 1-56025-818-7.
• Chris Welch (2002), Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9195-2.
• Richard Cole and Richard Trubo (1992), Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored, New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-018323-3.
• Stephen Davis (1985) Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, New York: William Morrow & Co., ISBN 0-688-04507-3.
• Luis Rey (1997) Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes, Ontario: The Hot Wacks Press. ISBN 4ISBN 0-9698080-7-0.
• Susan Fast (2001) In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19514-723-5.
• The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll (2001 edition).

External links

• Led Zeppelin: Official Site
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bio
• Rolling Stone Magazine bio
• BBC interview with Robert Plant about the Led Zeppelin reunion
• 1971 interview with Led Zeppelin
• Led Zeppelin discography at MusicBrainz
• Led Zeppelin and The Marquee Club