Led Zeppelin Overview

Led Zeppelin is hailed as the ring leader of the heavy metal bands. Jimmy Page, Jon Bonham, Robert Plant, and John P. Jones sold over 50 million records in their career together. Their guitar style drew heavily on the blues and... [more]

Led Zeppelin is hailed as the ring leader of the heavy metal bands. Jimmy Page, Jon Bonham, Robert Plant, and John P. Jones sold over 50 million records in their career together. Their guitar style drew heavily on the blues and British folk music, while mythology and fantasy influenced their lyrics and sound. "Stairway to Heaven," the band's staple song, illustrates their wide knowledge of music as it climbs from a folk to a heavy metal sound. When the Yardbirds fell apart in the summer of 1968, Page was left with a string of concert obligations. He recruited Jones and Plant, and formed the New Yardbirds. After the tour, the group adopted the name Led Zeppelin, recorded their debut album in less than 30 hours, then toured the U.S. as the opening act for Vanilla Fudge. Their first two albums hit the billboard within two months and every other album they released went platinum. For two years they toured nonstop, breaking the U.S. box office records set by the Beatles. When a car accident in 1975 hospitalized Plant for many months, the band's production and performance schedule went on hold. The next few years brought more bad luck; in 1976, during the "Presence" tour, Plant's six-year-old son died of a viral infection. Soon after, Bonham died of asphyxiation in Page's home. The series of tragedies precipitated the breakup of the band. They would reunite only three times in the 1980s. [show less]