Robert Plant -

Robert Plant (born Aug. 20, 1948) is an English singer and songwriter who shot to global fame as the frontman of hard-rock legends Led Zeppelin, which released eight studio albums between 1969 and 1979 on Atlantic.

As a solo artist, Plant debuted with the 1982 album Pictures at Eleven on Zeppelin-imprint Swan Song, followed by four albums between 1983 and 1990 on his personal imprint Es Paranza Records, which also issued the 1984 release Volume One by his ’50s-tribute supergroup The Honeydrippers. His solo hits include “Far Post,” “Big Log,” “In the Mood,” “Little By Little,” “Heaven Knows,” and “Tall Cool One.”

After the release of his 1993 Fontana disc Fate of Nations, Plant reteamed with erstwhile Zeppelin-cohort Jimmy Page for the disc No Quarter, featuring select LZ chestnuts reworked with orchestral and unplugged arrangements. Their renewed partnership yielded Walking Into Clarksdale, a 1998 originals album on Mercury. In 2007, Plant collaborated with American bluegrass singer/songwriter Alison Krauss on the award-winning Rounder release Raising Sand.

Background

Robert Anthony Plant was born Aug. 20, 1948, in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England. His father, civil engineer Robert C. Plant, played violin as a young man. Grandfather Robert Shropshire Plant led the Vono Revo Works Band around Dudley Port and played trombone, violin, and piano.

Plant grew up in Hayley Green near Halesowen and attended King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge. He left school in his mid-teens and abandoned a chartered-accountancy apprenticeship after two weeks as he pursued the West Midlands blues scene. Plant supported himself with roadwork and retail jobs while he sang with local groups.

Plant sang with Black Snake Moan and the Crawling King Snakes, where he met drummer John Bonham. He joined Listen in 1966 and made his recording debut on the Young Rascals cover “You’d Better Run,” released Nov. 25, 1966 (b/w “Everybody’s Gonna Say”) on CBS. Plant followed under his own name with “Our Song” on March 31, 1967 (b/w “Laughin’, Cryin’, Laughin’”). His second solo CBS single paired “Long Time Coming” with “I’ve Got a Secret” on July 14 (b/w “I’ve Got a Secret”).

Plant formed Band of Joy in 1966 after leaving Listen. The group passed through several lineups before Plant assembled a 1967–68 version with drummer John Bonham, guitarist Kevyn Gammond, bassist Paul Lockey, and keyboardist Chris Brown. The quintet played Midlands and London clubs, including a Feb. 8, 1968 support slot for Edwin Starr at the Marquee. Band of Joy also supported American singer Tim Rose on British dates and cut demos of “Hey Joe,” “For What It’s Worth,” “Memory Lane,” and “Adriatic Seaview.” The group dissolved after the recordings failed to secure a recording contract.

Plant worked briefly with blues guitarist Alexis Korner and sang and played harmonica on “Operator,” recorded with pianist Steve Miller. He then joined the Midlands group Obs-Tweedle. Plant fronted Obs-Tweedle at West Midlands College of Education in Walsall on July 20, 1968, where Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page heard him on a recommendation from singer Terry Reid. Page invited Plant to his home in Pangbourne, where discussions about blues, folk, soul, and contemporary West Coast music established plans for a new group. Plant recommended Bonham for drums. Session bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones approached Page about the remaining instrumental position after Chris Dreja left the project.

The four musicians first rehearsed together in August and fulfilled Scandinavian bookings the following month under the New Yardbirds name. The quartet adopted Led Zeppelin after those engagements. Led Zeppelin entered Olympic Studios on Sept. 25 and began sessions for the self-titled debut album. The group secured a long-term Atlantic recording contract in November.

Led Zeppelin released eight studio albums between the self-titled debut and In Through the Out Door. Plant sang lead and became a principal lyricist, chiefly through his writing partnership with Page. The group maintained an extensive concert circuit across Britain, continental Europe, North America, and Japan.

An August 1975 automobile accident on Rhodes left Plant with serious leg and ankle injuries and forced the cancellation of planned concerts. Plant recorded vocals for Presence through the subsequent recovery period. He returned to England after five-year-old son Karac died in July 1977, and Led Zeppelin cancelled the remaining ten concerts of their final North American tour. The group resumed recording for In Through the Out Door and completed a five-country European tour with a final show at the Eissporthalle in Berlin.

John Bonham died on Sept. 25, 1980, as Led Zeppelin prepared a North American tour. The surviving trio and manager Peter Grant ended the group through a December public statement.

Page soon began working with former Yes bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White on XYZ, a proposed group whose name abbreviated ex-Yes and Zeppelin. Page invited Plant to hear the project, and Plant attended one rehearsal. Plant balked at the contrapuntal complexity of the Squire–White rhythm section, particularly odd-metered material that included an orchestrated 7/4 passage. Squire also recalled Plant remained unwilling to enter another band so soon after the death of Bonham.

Former Chicken Shack guitarist Andy Silvester then suggested a return to small-club R&B work. Plant formed the Honeydrippers with guitarists Silvester and Robbie Blunt, saxophonist Keith Evans, harmonica player Ricky Cool, bassist Jim Hickman, and drummer Kevin O’Neil. The group made a low-key debut on March 9, 1981, at a wine bar in Stourbridge. Honeydrippers dates continued through the spring with university and club engagements that culminated on May 27 at Bradford University.

The club run re-established a working partnership between Plant and longtime acquaintance Robbie Blunt. Plant and Blunt moved from R&B covers into original material and developed songs through home demos. Bassist Paul Martinez and keyboardist Jezz Woodroffe joined the resulting recording group. Plant took the musicians to Rockfield Studios with drummers Phil Collins and Cozy Powell for sessions in Monmouth. Those sessions established the lineup and material for the first solo album, Pictures at Eleven.

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