Jimmy Page is hailed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. As the creative force behind Led Zeppelin, his mastery of distortion and sonic experimentation set a new standard for rock music, shaping generations of guitarists from the 1970s to today. But even legends have starting points—and for Page, it all began with one song.
In a 2016 interview with NPR’s Bob Boilen, Page was asked to name a song that changed his life. Without hesitation, he chose “Rock Island Line” by Lonnie Donegan. That choice may surprise some, but for Page, the connection runs deep—tracing all the way back to when he was just eight years old.
After moving into a new house as a child, Page discovered a beat-up acoustic lying around. “It was the campfire guitar, you know?” he recalled. “It did have all the strings on, which was pretty useful.” That forgotten six-string would become his gateway to the world of music.
The real spark came when he heard guitar-driven songs on the radio. “There was this sort of explosion of music in the ’50s,” Page explained. “And what we had over in England was this guy Lonnie Donegan. The song I’m going to sort of give as an illustration of this is ‘Rock Island Line’.”
Page was mesmerized. “He was superb. It was absolutely superb,” he said, remembering Donegan’s raw energy. He didn’t just hear the music—he saw it. “Every Saturday there would be a show on the television where usually he was on every other week,” Page recalled. “Just his whole passion and the way that he delivered this material—it was something to behold.”
What made Donegan so influential was his deep understanding of music, shaped by his background in jazz and American roots. “He really understood all of this—blues, American country, blues and all of that,” Page said. “By the time you get to the end of this, he’s really spitting it out – ‘Rock Island Line’. It’s fantastic stuff.”
Inspired, Page decided to make his own music. “Somebody at school showed me how to tune [the guitar],” he said. “Then I started strumming away, just sort of strumming chords.” That simple beginning, influenced by Donegan’s powerful delivery, would eventually evolve into one of the most iconic guitar careers in rock history.
In Page’s words, he wasn’t alone: “You’ll find so many of the guitarists from the ’60s will all say Lonnie Donegan was the influence.” And with that, we have a humble skiffle tune to thank for lighting the fire in Jimmy Page—fueling decades of groundbreaking music to come.
