Why does Robert Plant seem to despise his Led Zeppelin days?
Robert Plant’s relationship with Led Zeppelin has been very well documented since they broke up.
Going as far back as 1982 in fact. Yes… that early. In 1982 in an interview supporting his first solo album Pictures at Eleven, Plant made this quote regarding a Led Zeppelin reunion: “There is no functional purpose for keeping things going”
In 1985 he said the following: “Being in Led Zeppelin was like living in a goldfish bowl… things were done on such a grand scale. The band was such a perpetual-motion machine that didn’t allow me to stop and consider the values of the whole thing. The values were kind of in chaos for a while. The experience was a distortion of reality. My perspective of reality and hard work was out of line”
In 1990, he said this which I found very interesting: “I don’t know the guy who sang in Led Zeppelin. I see some very funny pictures of him, then I see Rock’s vile offspring trotting behind in Lurex pants and leather gloves with the fingers cut off”
In 2012, “You have to be creative and imaginative and move on. And I think the great essence of Led Zeppelin is the creation and imagination that developed with each project. And a project is a project, it’s not just going back and revisiting the past, it’s moving forward”
And finally in 2017 “You’ve just got to keep moving forward”
Now that I have laid sort of a preface to set the mood let me explain the reality behind Robert Plant’s comments and maybe even offer a brief glimpse into his mind.
For Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin really died in 1977 when his son passed. None of his bandmates attended his son’s funeral, in fact if I remember from an article I read a while back, when Plant lost his son, Page was too high to even realize what was going on. It is my feeling that this event was the beginning of the end for Led Zeppelin.
Robert Plant began evaluating his life, he saw that touring had taken away from Karac when he most needed his father, he saw the effects sex, money and drugs were having on his friends John Bonham and Jimmy Page. Robert actually considered quitting Led Zeppelin but Bonham convinced him to keep going.
So he did because his best friend asked him to, not for music, not for fame, but for his best friend.
When John died, Robert was done. For him, Led Zeppelin is a band which has given him everything and taken everything. He lost his innocence, his friend, his son and years of enjoying life that he will never get back.
I don’t think Robert hates Led Zeppelin, but might he regret accepting Jimmy Page’s offer?
Honestly… yes, I do think he does at some points. I doubt it is a controlling thought or else he would never contribute to any Led Zeppelin projects such as Celebration Day, the remasters and the book, but I think it is an itching thought in the back of his mind and one that prevents him from ever accepting any form of Reunion offer.
Robert seems happy doing his own thing, he enjoys a life now where he is at peace, making music without cost.
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