Led Zeppelin changed the course of rock 'n' roll. The mythic
convergence of Jimmy Page's thunderous guitar pyrotechnics,
Robert Plant's majestic screech, John Bonham's sledgehammer
beat, and John Paul Jones' accomplished bass playing combined
with lyrics that were alternately mystical and lascivious and
created a harder, more epic rock sound than had ever been
heard before and many would argue since.
At the same time, Led Zep raised the financial stakes of the
modern record industy, thanks largely to manager Peter Grant,
whose shrewd iron fist guided the band into becoming one of
the most popular acts in rock history, selling over 50
million records. Those musical and financial extremes were
matched only by the band's on-the-road antics, which set a
prodigious standard for rock-star excess. Led Zeppelin
originally rose from the ashes of Page's prior outfit, The
Yardbirds, the British Invasion blues-rock group he joined in
1966 and which fell apart two years later. For the new
cutting-edge combo he envisioned, Page recruited
bassist/keyboardist/arranger John Paul Jones who, like Page,
was a London studio veteran hired to play anonymously on
numerous hits. When Page's original choices of vocalist and
drummer -- Terry Reid and Procol Harum member B.J. Wilson,
respectively -- proved unavailable, Reid recommended unknown
19-year-old Birmingham vocalist Plant. In turn, Plant
suggested his hometown pal Bonham. The new quartet debuted in
October 1968 under the name The New Yardbirds, fulfilling the
old band's touring commitments in Scandinavia. Upon their
return to England, they were re-christened Led Zeppelin,
reportedly at the suggestion of Who drummer Keith Moon who
predicted they would go over like a Lead Zeppelin. But the
new band was consciously designed to be huge, and Grant
scored the band an unprecedented mega-deal with Atlantic
Records. The quartet's self-titled debut album, released in
January 1969, instantly made it clear that Page and company
had forged a genuinely audacious and original style out of a
perversely personal amalgam of blues, folk and rock
influences.
The quartet spent much of the next two years touring in
America, where its stylistic fusion was generally dismissed
by critics but enthusiastically embraced by fans and FM
album-rock DJs. Released later in 1969, Led Zeppelin II
showed considerable artistic development and featured the
band's first full-blown anthem, "Whole Lotta Love"; to the
surprise of many pundits but not to fans; the album hit the
top of the Billboard's sales chart. The decisive commercial
triumph of Led Zepplin II was significant for more than just
its sales figures and chart numbers, though; it represented a
changing of the guard as well as a changing of the times. And
other events of that year served to underscore the shift: the
Beatles were breaking up and three of rock's most charismatic
icons -- Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison -- had
died through various misadventures. Even though '69 was not
yet over, the seventies had begun.
The band's creative momentum continued with Led Zeppelin III,
which introduced the adrenaline-charged epic "The Immigrant
Song" to the band's repertoire. But the album's most salient
achievements were the graceful acoustic-based tunes that
dominated Side Two, demonstrating just how decisively the
band had transcended its original hard-rock tag.
Led Zeppelin's untitled (and frequently mistitled) fourth LP,
released in 1971, sold 15 million copies and permanently
established the group as the era's preeminent mega-band. The
album boasted Zep standards like the pummeling "Black Dog,"
the starkly bluesy "When the Levee Breaks" and the
idyllically hippieish "Going to California." But its
centerpiece was the landmark epic "Stairway to Heaven," which
still stands as the definitive classic-rock anthem of the
1970s, and the inspiration for a number of late-night teen
epiphanies than the human mind can accurately
process.
Houses of the Holy was an impressive follow-up, with standout
tracks like the darkly foreboding "No Quarter," the
ironically bubbly "Dancing Days" and the inventively
reggae-inflected "D'yer Mak'er."
Despite Led Zeppelin's accelerated output -- five ambitious
albums in as many years -- the band's work demonstrated a
remarkable consistency and inventiveness. It was inevitable
that the group wouldn't be able to maintain that pace -- or
those lofty standards -- forever.
The group's 1973 American tour found the foursome more
popular than ever, shattering the box office records that the
Beatles had set in the previous decade. Grant got Atlantic to
give Zeppelin its own custom label, Swan Song; their first
release was the 1975 double album Physical Graffitti,
featuring the epic "Kashmir," whose exotic eastern vibe
reflected Page and Plant's fascination with Moroccan music.
With Physical Graffitti and 1976's Presence, the band
maintained its sales figures -- as did the live The Song
Remains the Same, which doubled as soundtrack album to the
concert film of the same name. But the music was beginning to
show signs of strain.
In the second half of the '70s, the band was beset by a
series of tragedies that seemed all too consistent with its
longstanding aura of violence and black magic. In August
1975, Plant and his family were seriously injured in an auto
crash while vacationing on the Greek island of Rhodes. In
1977, Plant's six-year-old son Karac died suddenly while the
band was on tour in the U.S. The group then remained out of
the public eye until 1980's In Through the Out Door, a
subdued, melancholy effort that was mainly the work of Plant
and Jones, since Page's and Bonham's struggles with heroin
and alcohol, respectively, limited their input.
Led Zeppelin had completed some European dates and was
preparing for a U.S. tour when, on September 25, 1980, Bonham
died in his sleep, of alcohol-related asphyxiation. Rather
than continue with a replacement, the band announced its
breakup. The three surviving members did reunite a few times,
including a set (with Phil Collins and Chic's Tony Thompson
sharing drum duties) at 1985's Live Aid benefit; another for
Atlantic Records' 40th-anniversary show at Madison Square
Garden in New York City, with Bonham's son Jason manning the
kit; for the younger Bonham's wedding; and on the occasion of
Led Zeppelin's 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.
Still, Page, Plant and Jones largely distanced themselves
from their former band's legacy during the '80s. Page
released an underwhelming solo album and teamed with ex-Bad
Company frontman Paul Rodgers in The Firm. Plant embarked on
a productive solo career, initially refusing to play Led
Zeppelin material live. Jones worked mainly behind the
scenes, establishing himself as a busy producer, arranger and
film-score composer.
In 1994, though, Plant and Page reunited for the mostly
acoustic No Quarter, which gracefully reworked several old
Zeppelin songs. The album's success led to a poopular tour
and a more elaborate studio effort, Walking Into Clarksdale.
Meanwhile, Led Zeppelin's vintage catalogue remains an
irreplaceable cornerstone of classic-rock radio; their
classic work remains so influential that, in 1990, a St.
Petersburg, Florida radio station even attempted to launch an
all-Zeppelin musical format.
