When The Yardbirds crumbled, Jimmy Page wasn’t ready to step quietly into rock history. With a vision sharpened by ambition, he set out to build a band that could not just match The Who or The Rolling Stones — but surpass them. He found his answer in a thunderous rhythm section and a golden-haired singer from Birmingham, and soon enough, the world would know them as Led Zeppelin.
Page handpicked his bandmates with precision, focusing not just on raw talent but on the unteachable fire that fuels legends. One day, a whisper led him to Robert Plant — a voice that couldn’t be ignored.
“I was playing a college show when Jimmy and [manager] Peter Grant turned up,” Plant recalled to Classic Rock in 2008. “They asked if I’d like to join the Yardbirds. I knew they had America in their sights — and that meant real audiences.”
Naturally, Plant was interested.
At their first meeting, Plant decided to shoot his shot by belting out Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love.” It was a tall order — Grace Slick’s soaring vocal power wasn’t for the faint-hearted — but Plant matched her note for note.
Page was floored.
“When I auditioned him and heard him sing,” Page later said, “I immediately thought: there must be something wrong with this guy. Why wasn’t he already a star?” Skeptical but hopeful, Page invited Plant to stay at his home for a few days to check him out personally.
The result? Instant chemistry.
“No problems,” Page laughed. “We got along great.”
The blueprint for Zeppelin was now in place — talent, chemistry, and that untouchable X factor. Little did they know, the seed they’d just planted would grow into one of the greatest dynasties in rock history.
From Jam Sessions to Juggernauts
With Plant, Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham, Zeppelin roared into the scene. Their 1969 double strike — Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin II — turned the rock world on its head.
Flower power was fading. Something heavier, louder, and wilder was taking over.
Between Led Zeppelin III (1970) and Physical Graffiti (1975), Zeppelin weren’t just big — they were unstoppable.
The band’s internal chemistry was volcanic, and at the heart of it was the bond between Page and Plant.
Robert Plant Picks His Own Peak
Reflecting on the band’s golden years in a 1980 interview with journalist Tony Bacon, Plant was asked to name Jimmy Page’s greatest guitar moment.
Without hesitation, Plant chose the sprawling, slide-blues masterpiece “In My Time of Dying” from Physical Graffiti.
“It goes on and on,” Plant chuckled, “but it’s a great ramshackle blues slide. Straight off the top.”
When pressed about his own proudest vocal performance, Plant pointed to “The Ocean” from Houses of the Holy. The track wasn’t just another Zeppelin anthem — it was a playground where Plant channeled the vintage rock ‘n’ roll spirit he grew up loving, but twisted it with daring new flair.
He credited Gene Vincent’s slapback echo from the 1956 song “Woman Love” as a major influence, saying:
“The more you listen to early rockabilly, you hear those incredible echo effects. They were promising you something that wasn’t quite real… this dream wonderland, this safe love and no tears.”
With Zeppelin, Plant took that dream, cranked it through a Marshall stack, and blasted it into the stratosphere.
