After decades in the music industry, you’d think Neil Young would be immune to feeling starstruck. He had played alongside legends like Bob Dylan and The Beatles, yet even he wasn’t prepared for the sheer power of Led Zeppelin. The experience of sharing the stage with them left such a mark on Young that he did what he does best—he turned it into a song.
For one unforgettable night in 1995, Young lived out a guitarist’s wildest dream: he became an honorary member of Led Zeppelin. Performing alongside Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Young was so electrified by the experience that he imagined himself joining the band permanently. In his mind, this wasn’t just a one-off moment—he dreamed of reviving Led Zeppelin with him as a full-fledged member, even envisioning an album together.
Of course, the surviving Zeppelin members didn’t share that vision. At the time, Page and Plant had been touring as a duo, leaving Jones out of the mix—something he made clear he wasn’t happy about. When accepting the band’s Hall of Fame induction, Jones famously quipped, “Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number.”
But whatever tensions existed, they were forgotten when the band hit the stage, and their performance of When the Levee Breaks with Young sent chills through the crowd. At one point, Plant even honored Young by weaving a line from For What It’s Worth into the song.
Young, a master of raw and unpolished rock, has often been self-deprecating about his guitar skills, once admitting, “I’m a hack compared to him. He can really play,” when speaking about Page. But that night left such an impression on him that he immortalized it in Downtown, the lead single from his 1995 album Mirror Ball, recorded with Pearl Jam.
The song paints a vivid picture of a dreamlike 1960s, where music reigns supreme and Led Zeppelin stands at the center of it all. Young sings:
“Jimi’s playin’ in the back room,
Led Zeppelin on stage,
There’s a mirror ball twirlin’,
And a note from Page,
Like a water-washed diamond.”
While his fantasy of joining Led Zeppelin never came to pass, Young’s brush with the band reignited his passion for their music, inspiring a song that captures the awe he felt in their presence. And though we may have missed out on a Young-fronted Zeppelin album, their legacy remains untouchable.
