Robert Plant Biography
Robert Anthony Plant (born
August 20,
1948)
is a rock singer. He was one of the members of one of the most popular
and diversive bands in music history,
Led Zeppelin. He was known for his powerful style with a wide
vocal range that embodied folk/blues passion at it's finest. Following
the band's breakup after the death of their drummer
John Bonham, Plant pursued a successful solo career.
Plant started his career singing in a variety of bands including the
"Band of Joy." His early efforts met with no commercial success, but
word quickly spread about the young guy with the powerful voice.
Guitarist Jimmy Page was in search of a lead singer for his new band and
met Plant after talking with a drummer who referred him to a show where
Plant was singing. Plant and Page immediately hit it off with a shared
musical passion and after Plant joined the band, they began their
powerful writing collaboration with reworks of earlier blues songs.
A well-read individual, Plant was influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien, which
inspired some lyrics on early Zeppelin albums. The passion for diverse
musical experiences drove Plant and Page to explore the African
continent, specifically Morocco which they both revisited during their
reunion album No Quarter in 1994. From blues, to folk, to African tribal
music, Plant enjoyed diverse influences.
The band's greatest success came with "Stairway to Heaven", an epic
fantasy piece that draws influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional
music and hard rock among other genres. While never released as a
single, the song has topped charts as the greatest song of all time on
various polls around the world. Even though most of the lyrics of the
song were written on the spot and have been spread through bootlegs,
various groups have claimed that the song contained satanic messages
that can be heard when it is played backwards.
Plant enjoyed great success with the band throughout the 1970s, and at
one point during the height of his hubris said to a reporter "I'm a
golden haired God". This hubris was cut short when Plant and wife
Maureen were seriously injured in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece on
August 4, 1975. This halted production of Led Zeppelin's album Presence
for a few months while he recovered. Things also took a turn for the
worse in 1977, when his oldest son Karac died of a stomach infection.
Karac's death later inspired him to write the Led Zeppelin song "All My
Love" in tribute. These tragic incidents seemed to foster break-up
rumors and rumors that the band was involved with black magic.
Following the band's breakup in 1980, Plant pursued a successful solo
career distancing himself from past pain by charting a new course with a
variety of new band members. Plant would later form a short-lived
all-star group, The Honeydrippers, who had a Top Ten hit with a remake
of "Sea Of Love".
Many calls from fans and by band members have led to a few brief
Zeppelin reunions, including the historic Live Aid and Atlantic Records
Anniversary concerts.
In 2005, Plant formed a new back-up group, Strange Sensation, for a new
album, Mighty Rearranger. It contains new original songs recorded in the
spirit of his former band, Led Zeppelin.
Today, in addition to his own post-Zeppelin work, Plant continues his
occasional collaborations with his former bandmate Jimmy Page.Solo Discography
- Pictures at Eleven (1982)
- The Principle of Moments (1983)
-
The Honeydrippers: Volume One (1984), with
Jimmy Page
- Shaken 'n' Stirred (1985)
- Now and Zen (1988)
- Manic Nirvana (1990)
- Fate of Nations (1992)
-
No Quarter (1994), with
Jimmy Page
-
Walking Into Clarksdale (1998), with
Jimmy Page
- Dreamland (2002)
Led Zeppelin Lyrics
Artist Biographies