Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has once again made it clear: the legendary band will never reunite.
The group last came together in 2007 for a one-off show at London’s O2 Arena, honoring the late Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records. Despite massive offers for a full tour afterward, Plant refused — and nearly two decades later, his stance hasn’t changed.
Instead, Plant is now focused on his acoustic project, Saving Grace. The band’s debut album, also titled Saving Grace, is set to arrive on September 26th through Nonesuch Records. For Plant, this chapter feels more meaningful than playing in stadiums with his old bandmates.
Reflecting on his journey, he told Mojo: “For me, because I’ve been from a very questionable Live Aid to the O2, to Obama and the White House and all those things, I was beatified. I felt the tug of doing this – Saving Grace needed just to move on up in glory, as Mavis [Staples] would say.”
Plant explained that Saving Grace shows carry far less pressure than Led Zeppelin concerts: “The gigs are small enough so that if nobody wants to go, it’s not the end of the world. And so, by having that laissez-faire, easy-going… attitude, instead of doing the football stadium with some old mates, there it was: we were free. We could mess about.”
Though he still looks back proudly on Zeppelin’s music — recalling tracks like “For Your Life” and “Achilles Last Stand” as extraordinary — Plant doesn’t believe a reunion would be true to the band’s spirit. Speaking about their O2 show, he admitted: “I suppose, to do it for the sake of it was never what Zeppelin was about. And the tribute to Ahmet, it came through. You know, without John, but it came through.”
Remembering that night, he added: “The smell of fear on that stage was quite remarkable — but that’s how it should be if you’re taking risks.”
Today, Plant seems fully committed to moving forward with Saving Grace, leaving the past where it belongs. His U.S. tour begins October 30th at the Capitol Theater in Wheeling, West Virginia.
