When talking about the greatest rock singers of all time, Robert Plant is almost always near the top of the list. His soaring vocals defined Led Zeppelin, from the primal wails of The Immigrant Song to the raw blues of You Shook Me. But what makes Plant truly remarkable isn’t just his ability to hit high notes—it’s his versatility. Whether delivering delicate ballads like Going to California, funky grooves like The Crunge, or old-school rock and roll on Boogie with Stu, he’s done it all.
With such a legendary catalog, one might assume that Plant’s toughest vocal challenge came from a Zeppelin song—perhaps the demanding range of Stairway to Heaven or the relentless energy of Whole Lotta Love. But when asked about the hardest song of his career, Plant surprised everyone.
His answer? Polly Come Home, a slow-burning duet from his 2007 album Raising Sand with Alison Krauss.
“It’s just the most difficult piece of music to sing at the tempo that we sang it at,” Plant told Ultimate Classic Rock. “It’s one of the toughest calls I’ve had, apart from my audition in the Yardbirds.”
Unlike the Zeppelin anthems that pushed his voice to its limits, Polly Come Home challenged him in a different way. Originally recorded by Dillard & Clark as Polly, the song was reimagined by Plant and Krauss as a haunting, atmospheric ballad. The slow, measured pace left no room for error, forcing Plant to hold every note with precision and emotion.
“The song itself is just, it’s so poignant. And it’s so slow,” he explained. “So the very opening line of the song, in my chest, my lungs, my vocal cords, in my sense of timing… It was, ‘How am I gonna get these words right to the end of that bar without collapsing?’ It was just such a beautiful lilt.”
For Plant, the difficulty wasn’t in belting out high notes or delivering aggressive vocals—it was about control. Keeping a steady, restrained tone while conveying deep emotion made Polly Come Home one of his most challenging performances.
It’s a humbling insight from a rock legend known for his powerhouse vocals. While fans might assume that the scream in The Immigrant Song or the soaring melodies of Stairway to Heaven would be his biggest obstacles, Plant himself sees things differently. Sometimes, the hardest songs aren’t about power—they’re about restraint.
