| Robert Plant |
Plant at Birmingham's Symphony Hall (2010) |
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Robert Anthony Plant |
| Born |
(1948-08-20) 20 August 1948 (age 63)
West Bromwich, Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England |
| Genres |
Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock, world music, country rock |
| Occupations |
Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments |
Vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass guitar |
| Years active |
1966–present |
| Labels |
Atlantic, Swan Song, Es Paranza, Sanctuary, Mercury, Universal, Rounder |
| Associated acts |
Band of Joy, Led Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, Page and Plant, Strange Sensation, Alison Krauss, The New Yardbirds |
| Website |
Official website |
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career. In 2007, Plant released Raising Sand, an album produced by T-Bone Burnett with American bluegrass soprano Alison Krauss, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.[1]
With a career spanning more than 40 years, Plant is regarded as one of the most significant singers in the history of rock music, and has influenced contemporaries and later singers such as Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose.[2] In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant the "Greatest Metal Vocalist of All-Time".[3] In 2009, Plant was voted "the greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock.[4][5] In 2011, a Rolling Stone readers' pick placed Plant in first place of the magazine's "Best Lead Singers of All Time".[6]
Plant was born in the Black Country town of West Bromwich (then in Staffordshire now in West Midlands) to parents Robert C. who worked as a civil engineer[7] and Annie C. (Cain) Plant, but grew up in Kidderminster, in Worcestershire. Plant gained an interest in singing and rock and roll music at an early age.
When I was a kid I used to hide behind the curtains at home at Christmas and I used to try and be Elvis. There was a certain ambience between the curtains and the French windows, there was a certain sound there for a ten year old. That was all the ambience I got at ten years old... I think! And I always wanted to be a curtain, a bit similar to that.[8]
He left King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge in his mid-teens and developed a strong passion for the blues, mainly through his admiration for Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and early rendition of songs in this genre.
I suppose I was quite interested in my stamp collection and Romano-British history. I was a little grammar school boy and I could hear this kind of calling through the airwaves[9]
He abandoned training as a chartered accountant after only two weeks to attend college in an effort to gain more GCE passes and to become part of the English Midlands blues scene.[10][11] "I left home at 16", he said "and I started my real education musically, moving from group to group, furthering my knowledge of the blues and of other music which had weight and was worth listening to."[12]
Plant's early blues influences included Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967 laying tarmac on roads. He also worked at Woolworths in Halesowen town for a short period of time. He cut three obscure singles on CBS Records[13] and sang with a variety of bands, including The Crawling King Snakes, which brought him into contact with drummer John Bonham. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, merging blues with newer psychedelic trends. Though his early career met with no commercial success, word quickly spread about the "young man with the powerful voice".
In 1968, the guitarist Jimmy Page was in search of a lead singer for his new band and met Plant after being turned down by his first choice, Terry Reid, who referred him to a show at a teacher training college in Birmingham— where Plant was singing in a band named Hobbstweedle.[14] Page explained:
When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he'd been singing for a few years already, he hadn't become a big name yet. So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.[15]
According to Plant:
I was appearing at this college when Peter and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I'd like to join The Yardbirds. I knew The Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America – which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer – so naturally I was very interested.[12]
Plant and Page immediately hit it off with a shared musical passion and began their writing collaboration with reworkings of earlier blues songs, although Plant would receive no songwriting credits on the band's first album, allegedly because he was still under contract to CBS Records at the time. Plant brought along John Bonham as drummer, and they were joined by John Paul Jones, who had previously worked with Page as a studio musician. Jones called Page on the phone before they checked out Plant, and Page hired Jones immediately.
Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" in 1968, the band soon came to be known as Led Zeppelin. The band's self-titled debut album hit the charts in 1969 and is widely credited as a catalyst for the heavy metal genre. Plant has commented that it is unfair for people to think of Zeppelin as heavy metal, as almost a third of their music was acoustic.[16]
In 1975, Plant and his wife Maureen (now divorced) were seriously injured in a car crash in Rhodes, Greece. This significantly affected the production of Led Zeppelin's seventh album Presence for a few months while he recovered, and forced the band to cancel the remaining tour dates for the year.
In July 1977 his son Karac died aged five of a stomach infection while Plant was engaged on Led Zeppelin's concert tour of the United States. It was a devastating loss for the family. Plant retreated to his home in the Midlands and for months afterward he questioned his future.[17] Karac's death later inspired him to write the song "All My Love" in tribute, featured on Led Zeppelin's final studio LP, 1979's In Through the Out Door.
Plant did not begin writing song lyrics with Led Zeppelin until the making of Led Zeppelin II, in 1969. According to Jimmy Page:
The most important thing about
Led Zeppelin II is that up to that point I'd contributed lyrics. Robert hadn't written before, and it took a lot of ribbing to get him into writing, which was funny. And then, on the second LP, he wrote the words of Thank You. He said, "I'd like to have a crack at this and write it for my wife."
[18]
Plant's lyrics with Led Zeppelin were often mystical, philosophical and spiritual, alluding to events in classical and Norse mythology, such as "Immigrant Song", which refers to Valhalla and Viking conquests. However, the song "No Quarter" is often misunderstood to refer to the god Thor; the song actually refers to Mount Thor (which is named after the god). Another example is "The Rain Song".
Plant was also influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, whose book series inspired lyrics in some early Led Zeppelin songs. Most notably "The Battle of Evermore", "Misty Mountain Hop", "No Quarter", "Ramble On" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" contain verses referencing Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Conversely, Plant sometimes used more straightforward blues-based lyrics dealing primarily with sexual innuendo, as in "The Lemon Song", "Trampled Under Foot", and "Black Dog".
Welsh mythology also forms a basis of Plant's interest in mystical lyrics. He grew up close to the Welsh border and would often take summer trips to Snowdonia. Plant bought a Welsh sheep farm in 1973, and began taking Welsh lessons and looking into the mythology of the land (such as Black Book of Carmarthen, Book of Taliesin, etc.) Plant's first son, Karac, was named after the Welsh warrior Caratacus. The song "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is named after the 18th Century Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur owned by a friend of his father; it later inspired the song "Bron-Yr-Aur". The songs "Misty Mountain Hop", "That's the Way", and early dabblings in what would become "Stairway to Heaven" were written in Wales and lyrically reflect Plant's mystical view of the land. Critic Steve Turner suggests that Plant's early and continued experiences in Wales served as the foundation for his broader interest in the mythologies he revisits in his lyrics (including those myth systems of Tolkien and the Norse).[19]
The passion for diverse musical experiences drove Plant to explore Africa, specifically Marrakesh in Morocco where he encountered Umm Kulthum.
I was intrigued by the scales, initially, and obviously the vocal work. The way she sang, the way she could hold a note, you could feel the tension, you could tell that everybody, the whole orchestra, would hold a note until she wanted to change.
[20]
That musical inspiration eventually culminated in "Kashmir". Both he and Jimmy Page revisited these influences during their reunion album No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded in 1994. In his solo career, Plant again tapped from these influences many times, most notably in the 2002 album, Dreamland.
Arguably one of Plant's most significant achievements with Led Zeppelin was his contribution to the track "Stairway to Heaven", an epic rock ballad featured on Led Zeppelin IV that drew influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock among other genres. Most of the lyrics of the song were written spontaneously by Plant in 1970 at Headley Grange. While never released as a single, the song has topped charts as the greatest song of all time on various polls around the world.
Plant is also recognised for his lyrical improvisation in Led Zeppelin's live performances, often singing verses previously unheard on studio recordings. One of the most famous Led Zeppelin musical devices involves Plant's vocal mimicking of band mate Jimmy Page's guitar effects. This can be heard in the songs "How Many More Times", "Dazed and Confused", "The Lemon Song", "You Shook Me", "Nobody's Fault but Mine" and "Sick Again".
He is also known for his light-hearted, humorous, and unusual on-stage banter, often referred to as "plantations". Plant often discusses the origin and background of the songs during his shows, and sometimes provides social comment as well. He frequently talks about American blues musicians as his inspiration, mentioning artists like Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie Johnson, and Willie Dixon at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the 2007 Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert with Led Zeppelin.
Plant (left) with Led Zeppelin guitarist
Jimmy Page performing live
Plant enjoyed great success with Led Zeppelin throughout the 1970s and developed a compelling image as the charismatic rock-and-roll front man, similar to his contemporary in The Who, singer Roger Daltrey (who adopted the look in the late 1960s), Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and his other fellow contemporary, Jim Morrison of The Doors.[21] With his mane of long blond hair and powerful, bare-chested appearance, Plant helped to create the "god of rock and roll" or "rock god" archetype. On stage, Plant was particularly active in live performances, often dancing, jumping, skipping, snapping his fingers, clapping, making emphatic gestures to emphasise a lyric or cymbal crash, throwing back his head, or placing his hands on his hips. As the 1960s–1970s progressed he, along with the other members of Led Zeppelin, became increasingly flamboyant on-stage and wore more elaborate, colourful clothing and jewellery.
According to Classic Rock magazine, "once [Plant] had a couple of US tours under his belt, 'Percy' Plant swiftly developed a staggering degree of bravado and swagger that irrefutably enhanced Led Zeppelin's rapidly burgeoning appeal."[12] In 1994, during his "Unledded" tour with Jimmy Page, Plant himself reflected tongue-in-cheek upon his Led Zeppelin showmanship:
I can't take my whole persona as a singer back then very seriously. It's not some great work of beauty and love to be a rock-and-roll singer. So I got a few moves from Elvis and one or two from Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin' Wolf and threw them all together.[22]
One of the oddest awards he's received is the Rock Scene Magazine "Chest O Rama". Readers of the magazine had to decide who had the best chest in rock and Plant was the winner. When they contacted him about it, he replied: "I'm really greatly honoured although it's hard for me to be eloquent on the subject of my chest."[23]
After the break-up of Led Zeppelin in 1980 (following the death of John Bonham), Plant pursued a successful solo career beginning with Pictures at Eleven in 1982, followed by 1983's The Principle of Moments. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log" (a Top 20 hit in 1983), "In the Mood" (1983), "Little by Little" (from 1985's Shaken 'n' Stirred), "Far Post" (originally only on the B-side of "Burning Down One Side" but popularised by airplay on album-oriented rock stations), "Tall Cool One" (a No. 25 hit off 1988's Now and Zen) and "I Believe" (from 1993's Fate of Nations), another song written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. In 1984, Plant formed a short-lived all-star group with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck called The Honeydrippers, who had a No. 3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune, "Sea of Love" and a followup hit with a cover of Roy Brown's "Rockin' at Midnight". Although Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period (he occasionally would improvise his unique Zeppelin screams into his set), his tours in 1983 (with drummer Phil Collins) and 1985 were very successful, often performing to sold-out arena-sized venues.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Plant co-wrote three solo albums with keyboardist/songwriter Phil Johnstone. Now and Zen, Manic Nirvana, and Fate of Nations (featuring Moya Brennan of Clannad). It was Johnstone who talked Plant into playing Led Zeppelin songs in his live shows, something Plant had resisted, not wanting to be forever known as "the former Led Zeppelin vocalist."
Although Led Zeppelin split in 1980, Plant and Page occasionally collaborated on various projects, including The Honeydrippers: Volume One album in 1984. In the spring 2 years later Robert performed at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986. The pair again worked together in the studio on the 1988 Page solo effort, Outrider, and in the same year Page contributed to Plant's album Now and Zen. Also, on 15 May 1988 Plant appeared with Page as a member of Led Zeppelin (and in his own right as a solo artist) at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert.
Page and Plant became a full-fledged performing act from 1994 through 1998, releasing the Unledded album in 1994 and following with an enormously successful tour in 1995: Fourteen years of speculation from their fans and occasional sniping between the two former members ended when Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin reconvened their former musical partnership to produce No Quarter. Having long resisted offers from MTV to reform to do an Unplugged show, they finally accepted as part of a deal that also allowed them to visit Morocco to record new material. The album combines the results of both of these projects. The Led Zeppelin material features new arrangements and new instrumentation, including strings, Egyptian musicians and the haunting vocals of British-Asian star Najma Akhtar. Page and Plant recorded their only post-Zeppelin album of original material on the 1998 album, Walking into Clarksdale, an effort that was unsuccessful commercially, leading Plant to return to his solo career. A song from this album, "Please Read the Letter", was re-recorded by Plant with Alison Krauss, winning the 2009 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
Starting in mid-1999, Plant performed until the end of 2000 at several small venues with his folk-rock band, named Priory of Brion.
In 1999, Plant contributed to the tribute album for Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence, who was terminally ill. The album, More Oar: A Tribute to the Skip Spence Album (Birdman, 1999), with the album title referring to Spence's only solo album, Oar (Columbia, 1969), contained Plant's version of Spence's "Little Hands". Plant had been an admirer of Spence and Moby Grape since the release of Moby Grape's eponymous 1967 debut album.[24]
In 2001, Plant appeared on Afro Celt Sound System's album Volume 3: Further in Time. The song "Life Begin Again" features a duet with Welsh folksinger Julie Murphy, emphasising Plant's recurring interest in Welsh culture (Murphy would also tour in support of Plant).
In 2002, with his then newly-formed band Strange Sensation, Plant released a widely acclaimed collection of mostly blues and folk remakes, Dreamland. Contrasting with this lush collection of often relatively obscure remakes, the second album with Strange Sensation, Mighty ReArranger (2005), contains new, original songs. Both have received some of the most favourable reviews of Plant's solo career and four Grammy nominations, two in 2003 and two in 2006.
As a former member of Led Zeppelin, along with Page and John Paul Jones, Plant received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Polar Music Prize in 2006.
From 2001 to 2007, Plant actively toured the US & Europe with The Strange Sensation. His sets typically included recent, but not only, solo material and plenty of Led Zeppelin favourites, often with new and expanded arrangements. A DVD titled Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, featuring his Soundstage performance (filmed at the Soundstage Studios in Chicago on 16 September 2005), was released in October 2006.
On 23 June 2006, Plant was the headliner (backed by Ian Hunter's band) at the Benefit For Arthur Lee concert at New York's Beacon Theatre, a show which raised money for Lee's medical expenses from his bout with leukaemia. Plant and band performed thirteen songs – five by Arthur Lee & Love, five Led Zeppelin songs and three others including a duet with Ian Hunter. At the show, Plant told the audience of his great admiration for Arthur Lee dating back to the mid-Sixties. Lee died of his illness six weeks after the concert.
An expansive box set of his solo work, Nine Lives, was released in November 2006, which expanded all of his albums with various b-sides, demos, and live cuts. It was accompanied by a DVD. All his solo works were re-released with these extra tracks individually.
In 2007, Plant contributed two tracks to the Fats Domino tribute album Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, "It Keeps Rainin'" with the Lil' Band O' Gold and "Valley of Tears" with The Soweto Gospel Choir.
Robert Plant on stage with Alison Krauss at Birmingham's
NIA, 5 May 2008
From 2007–2008, Plant recorded and performed with bluegrass star Alison Krauss. A duet album, Raising Sand, was released on 23 October 2007 on Rounder Records. The album, recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T-Bone Burnett, includes performances of lesser-known material from R&B, Blues, folk, and country songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Gene Clark, Tom Waits, Doc Watson, Little Milton and The Everly Brothers. The song "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" from Raising Sand won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals in 2008. Raising Sand also won Album of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards.[25] The album has been successful critically and commercially, and was certified platinum on 4 March 2008.
Plant and Krauss began an extended tour of the US and Europe in April 2008, playing music from Raising Sand and other American roots music as well as reworked Led Zeppelin tunes. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize in July 2008.[26] Also in 2008, Plant performed with bluegrass musicians at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. He appeared as a surprise guest during Fairport Convention's set at the 2008 Cropredy Festival, performing Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" with Kristina Donahue as a tribute to Sandy Denny.
Plant performing with
Alison Krauss at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN, 2008.
On 8 February 2009, Plant and Krauss won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Country Collaboration with Vocals, and Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
In 2010, Plant realised a lifelong ambition by playing live at Molineux Stadium, home of the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. Plant performed with the amateur cover band No Rezerve.[citation needed]
In July 2010, Robert Plant embarked on a twelve-date summer tour in the United States with a new group called Band of Joy (reprising the name of his very first band in the 1960s). The group includes singer Patty Griffin, singer-guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Darrell Scott, bassist-vocalist Byron House, and drummer-percussionist-vocalist Marco Giovino.
After a unique show in the United States on 12 September 2010 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, another eleven-date autumn tour in Europe was announced to last from October to November 2010.[27] North America tour dates were announced 16 November 2010, with the first show being 18 January 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina.[28]
A new studio album called Band of Joy was released on 13 September 2010 on the Rounder Records label.[29]
The band played their final scheduled show together at the Big Chill Festival at Eastnor Castle Deer Park in Herefordshire on 7 August 2011. The show ended with Plant bidding his bandmates "a fond farewell".[30]
On 30 September 2011, Plant and Band of Joy played in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, as part of the 11th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.[31]
It was first reported that Robert Plant's new vehicle, The Sensational Space Shifters, would be debuting at 2012's WOMAD festival in Wiltshire, England. An intimate warm up gig was then announced in Gloucester on 8 May to a crowd of 400. Although it was initially reported that there were 10 members of the band, along with Plant the band consists of former Strange Sensation members, Cast guitarist Liam "Skin" Tyson, Justin Adams, Billy Fuller and John Baggot along with Dave Smith, Juldeh Camara and Patty Griffin[32]. In addition to Womad and the Gloucester show, the Sensational Space Shifters are scheduled for the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 10-12.[33][34][35][36][37]
Plant performed with living members of Led Zeppelin both on 13 July 1985 for Live Aid (with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on drums) and on 15 May 1988 for Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary. At the 1988 reunion, Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin's late drummer John Bonham, played drums. Both sets featured only a few songs, performed with minimal rehearsal. Plant was unhappy with both performances, saying that "it was like sleeping with your ex-wife but not making love." At the 1990 Silver Clef Award Winners Concert at Knebworth, Plant was joined by Jimmy Page. Some of their set was released on the subsequent live album and video. In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Plant performed at the induction show with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham, Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, performing spirited versions of "Bring It On Home", "Honeybee", and "When the Levee Breaks".
After years of reunion rumours, Led Zeppelin performed a full two-hour set on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert, with Jason again filling in on drums. Despite enormous public demand, Plant declined a $200 million offer to tour with Led Zeppelin after the 2007 show.[38] In interviews following the 2007 show, Plant left the door open to possible future performances with Led Zeppelin, saying that he enjoyed the reunion and felt that the show was strong musically.[39] Although Page, Jones, and Bonham have expressed the strong desire to tour as Led Zeppelin,[40] Plant has consistently opposed a full tour and has responded negatively to questions about another reunion. In a January, 2008 interview, he stated that he does not want to "tour like a bunch of bored old men following the Rolling Stones around." In a statement on his web site in late 2008, Plant stated, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."
Robert Plant married Maureen Wilson on 9 November 1968. The couple had three children: daughter Carmen Jane (1968) (married to Charlie Jones, Plant's bass player for solo tours); and sons Karac Pendragon (1972–1977) (died of a virus; the reason Led Zeppelin's 1977 North American Tour was cut short), and Logan Romero (1979). The couple divorced in August 1983. Also, Plant has a younger son, Jesse Lee (1991), the son of Shirley Wilson, sister of Maureen.
On 14 August 2009, it was announced via the Wolverhampton Wanderers text message news service that "Rock Legend and lifelong Wolves fan Robert Plant is to become the club's third Vice President." Plant officially received the honour before kick off at the club's first match of the season against West Ham.[41] Plant was five years old when he first visited Molineux. He recalled in an interview with his local paper, the Express & Star, in August 2010: "I was five when my dad took me down for the first time and Billy Wright waved at me. Honest, he did. And that was it – I was hooked from that moment.[42]
According to The Sunday Times Rich List Plant is worth £80 million as of 2009.[43]
In late 2010 on BBC2, a documentary featured Robert Plant discussing his journey with Led Zeppelin and various projects since.
Robert Plant is one of the most significant singers in rock music and has influenced the style of many of his contemporaries, including Geddy Lee, Ann Wilson,[44] Sammy Hagar,[45] and later rock vocalists such as Jeff Buckley and Jack White who imitated his performing style extensively. Freddie Mercury of Queen, and Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses were also influenced by Plant.[2] Encyclopædia Britannica notes "Exaggerating the vocal style and expressive palette of blues singers such as Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, [Robert] Plant created the sound that has defined much hard rock and heavy metal singing: a high range, an abundance of distortion, loud volume, and emotional excess".[46] Plant received the Knebworth Silver Clef Award in 1990.[47]
In 2006, heavy metal magazine Hit Parader named Plant No. 1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All-Time, a list which included Rob Halford (2), Steven Tyler (3), Freddie Mercury (6), Geddy Lee (13), and Paul Stanley (18), all of whom were influenced by Plant.[3] In 2008, Rolling Stone named Plant as number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All-Time.[2] In 2009, he was voted the "greatest voice in rock" in a poll conducted by Planet Rock.[4][5] Plant was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours for his "services to popular music".[48][49] He was included in the Q magazine's 2009 list of "Artists Of The Century" and was ranked at number 8 in their list of "100 Greatest Singers" in 2007.[50][51] In 2009, Plant also won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at the Q Awards.[52] He was placed at no. 3 on SPIN's list of "The 50 Greatest Rock Frontmen of All Time".[53]
On 20 September 2010 National Public Radio (NPR) named Plant as one of the "50 Great Voices" in the world.[54]
- ^ Veteran Robert Plant steals show at Grammys The Guardian Retrieved 27 February 2011
- ^ a b c 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time: Robert Plant Rolling Stone Retrieved 27 February 2011
- ^ a b Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists Of All Time Theinsider.com Retrieved 27 February 2011
- ^ a b Plant is still top of the tree The Sun Retrieved 27 February 2011
- ^ a b Robert Plant voted 'greatest voice in rock'. NME. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ Rolling Stone Readers Pick the Best Lead Singers of All Time (1.Robert Plant) Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 July 2011
- ^ Williamson, Nigel (2007). The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin. London: Rough Guides Limited. ISBN 1-84353-841-5.
- ^ Led-Zeppelin.org. "Led Zeppelin Assorted Info". http://www.led-zeppelin.org/reference/index.php?m=assorted3.
- ^ Robert Plant: By Myself BBC Interview broadcast 6 Nov 2010
- ^ Led Zeppelin In Their Own Words compiled by Paul Kendall (1981), London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-86001-932-2, p. 14.
- ^ Dave Lewis and Simon Pallett (1997) Led Zeppelin: The Concert File, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5307-4, p. 10.
- ^ a b c Ian Fortnam, "Dazed & confused", Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin, 2008, p. 38.
- ^ Hammer Of the Gods, by Stephen Davis ISBN 1-57297-306-4 (p.48-49)
- ^ Gilmore, Mikal (10 August 2006). "The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin". Rolling Stone (1006). http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11027261/the_long_shadow_of_led_zeppelin/print. Retrieved 9 December 2007.
- ^ Dave Schulps, Interview with Jimmy Page, Trouser Press, October 1977.
- ^ The History of Rock 'n' Roll: The '70s: Have a Nice Decade
- ^ Dave Lewis (2003), Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-056-4, p. 54.
- ^ Kent, Nick. "Led Zeppelin: Eyewitness." Mojo Magazine: Classic Rock Special Issue (2009, Volume 2, 1ssue 6), p. 104.
- ^ "Stairway to Heaven, Paved with Gold: Led Zeppelin’s Snowdonia." The Independent, 6 April 1991.
- ^ Andy Gill (27 August 2010). "Robert Plant: 'I feel so far away from heavy rock'". The Independent (UK). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/robert-plant-i-feel-so-far-away-from-heavy-rock-2063017.html. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
- ^ "Their Time is Gonna Come", Classic Rock Magazine: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin, 2008.
- ^ Strauss, Neil (30 October 1994). "Getting the Led Out of Led Zeppelin". New York Times: p. H30. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/30/arts/pop-music-getting-the-led-out-of-led-zeppelin.html.
- ^ Rock Scene magazine, June 1974, Four Seasons Publications, Inc. 59287-4
- ^ Plant included "8:05", from the first Moby Grape album, as a B-side to a 1993 single; it is also included on the expanded reissue of his Fate of Nations album on Rhino Records. Plant performed "Hey Grandma" (also from the first Moby Grape album) live when with his pre-Led Zeppelin Band of Joy, during the 1967–1968 period. See Rare and Unrecorded Songs by Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin. See also "Robert Plant albums reborn with nine lives". News Release, Rhino Records, 20 September 2006. On the Sixty Six to Timbuktu collection (2003), Plant includes his version of Spence's "Little Hands", as well as "Naked If I Want To", another song from the first Moby Grape album.
- ^ List of Grammy winners[dead link]
- ^ Owen Gibson, media correspondent (23 July 2008). "Mercury picks dark horses and rising stars". The Guardian. UK. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jul/23/mercuryprize.popandrock. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Robert Plant Official Website / Tour". Robertplant.com. http://www.robertplant.com/tour/. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ "Rounder Records Website / Tour". rounder.com. http://www.rounder.com/artist/news/detail.aspx?nid=4485&aid=8790. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
- ^ "led-zeppelin.org/news". Led-zeppelin.org. http://www.led-zeppelin.org/news/index.php?m=2010news#032910a. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Review – Robert Plant’s last concert with the Band Of Joy". Express & Star (Wolverhampton, England). 8 August 2011. http://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2011/08/08/review-robert-plants-last-concert-with-the-band-of-joy/. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
- ^ "Your guide to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music". The Examiner (San Francisco). 30 September 2011. http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/events/2011/09/your-guide-hardly-strictly-bluegrass-music. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/robert-plant/63585
- ^ Shauna Wright, "ROBERT PLANT TO PLAY WITH NEW BAND AT WOMAD FESTIVAL", Ultimate Classic Rock, Feb 23rd
- ^ Brian Guardner, "Robert Plant to Unveil the Sensational Space Shifters", "Ramble On Radio", April 16th
- ^ Ken Kelley, "Robert Plant to Debut New Band at Intimate Show,Ultimate Classic Rock, April 18th
- ^ Dave Lewis, [1], Tight But Loose, March 14th
- ^ Nigel Tassell, "Robert Plant's latest open-eared musical excursion", "Womad - World of Music, Arts and Dance, March 2011
- ^ "Robert Plant Turns Down $200 million for Zeppelin Reunion Tour @ JustPressPlay". Justpressplay.net. http://www.justpressplay.net/music/music-news/3001-robert-plan-turns-down-200-million-for-led-zep-reunion-tour.html. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Robert Plant Confirms Led Zeppelin Could Play Again". http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/led_zeppelin/news/11294.
- ^ Hot right now: . "Jason Bonham: 'I Would Do A Led Zeppelin Tour In A Heartbeat'". Gigwise. http://www.gigwise.com/news/43840/jason-bonham-i-would-do-a-led-zeppelin-tour-in-a-heartbeat. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Rock Legend To Become Vice-President". http://www.wolves.co.uk/page/News/0,,10307~1754769,00.html.
- ^ Our Grumpy Old Man (21 August 2010). "Steve Bull and Robert Plant talk charity « Express & Star". Expressandstar.com. http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/08/21/steve-bull-and-robert-plant-talk-charity/. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
- ^ "Search the Sunday Times Rich List 2009". The Times (London). http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/?l=17&list_name=Rich+List+2009&advsearch=1&t=1&x=33&y=3&i=Music.
- ^ Wilson, Ann. "Ann Wilson Song By Song description – Hope & Glory". http://www.virb.com/annwilson/blog/269807. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". VH1 The Greatest.
- ^ Susan Fast, "Led Zeppelin (British Rock Group)", Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Knebworth: The Silver Clef Award Winners-Volumes One, Two & Three (1990)". Michaeldvd.com.au. http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews/Reviews.asp?ID=2972. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929. p. 8. 31 December 2008.
- ^ Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant joins Establishment after accepting CBE from Prince Charles. Daily Mail. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ admin. "UK’s ‘Q’ Magazine Lists Their Artists Of The Century". Thelifefiles.com. http://www.thelifefiles.com/2009/11/27/uks-q-magazine-lists-their-artists-of-the-century/. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ "Q – 100 Greatest Singers". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage3.htm#100%20Greatest%20Singers. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Muse, Kasabian, Robert Plant Triumph At Q Awards 2009 – PHOTOS. Gigwise.com. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ The 50 Greatest Rock Frontmen of All Time. SPIN.
- ^ 50 Great Voices NPR Music Retrieved 20 September 2010
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"Smooth"* by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson) featuring Rob Thomas
engineered/mixed by David Thoener, produced by Matt Serletic (2000) |
"Beautiful Day"* by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.)
engineered/mixed by Richard Rainey & Steve Lillywhite; produced by Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois (2001) |
"Walk On" by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.)
engineered/mixed by Richard Rainey & Steve Lillywhite; produced by Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois (2002) |
"Don't Know Why"* by Norah Jones;
engineered/mixed by Jay Newland; produced by Arif Mardin, Jay Newland & Norah Jones (2003) |
"Clocks" by Coldplay (Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey, Chris Martin)
engineered/mixed by Coldplay, Ken Nelson & Mark Phythian; produced by Coldplay & Ken Nelson (2004) |
"Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles and Norah Jones
engineered/mixed by Al Schmitt, Mark Fleming, & Terry Howard; produced by John R. Burk (2005) |
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Frank Edwin Wright III)
engineered/mixed by Chris Lord-Alge & Doug McKean, produced by Green Day & Rob Cavallo (2006) |
"Not Ready to Make Nice"* by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison)
engineered/mixed by Chris Testa, Jim Scott & Richard Dodd; produced by Rick Rubin (2007) |
"Rehab"* by Amy Winehouse
engineered/mixed by Tom Elmhirst, Vaughan Merrick, Dom Morley, Mark Ronson & Gabriel Roth; produced by Mark Ronson (2008) |
"Please Read the Letter" by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
engineered/mixed by Mike Piersante; produced by T-Bone Burnett (2009) |
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| Supernatural performed by Santana (Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson); engineered/mixed by Alvaro Villagra, Andy Grassi, Anton Pukshansky, Benny Faccone, Chris Theis, Commissioner Gordon, David Frazer, David Thoener, Glenn Kolotkin, Jeff Poe, Jim Gaines, Jim Scott, John Gamble, John Karpowich, John Seymour, Matty Spindel, Mike Couzzi, Steve Farrone, Steve Fontano, T-Ray, Tom Lord-Alge, Tony Prendatt & Warren Riker; produced by Alex Gonzales, Art Hodge, Charles Goodan, Clive Davis, Dante Ross, Dust Brothers, Fher Olvera, Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis, K. C. Porter, Lauryn Hill, Matt Serletic, Stephen M. Harris & Wyclef Jean (2000) |
Two Against Nature performed by Steely Dan (Walter Becker, Donald Fagen); engineered/mixed by Dave Russell, Elliot Scheiner, Phil Burnett & Roger Nichols; produced by Donald Fagen & Walter Becker (2001) |
| O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack performed by Alison Krauss & Union Station (Barry Bales, Ron Block, Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski), Chris Sharp, Chris Thomas King, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Harley Allen, John Hartford, Mike Compton, Norman Blake, Pat Enright, Peasall Sisters (Hannah Peasall, Leah Peasall, Sarah Peasall), Ralph Stanley, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, The Cox Family (Evelyn Cox, Sidney Cox, Suzanne Cox, Willard Cox), The Fairfield Four (Nathan Best, Isaac Freeman, Robert Hamlett, James Hill, Joseph Rice, Wilson Waters, Jr.), The Whites (Buck White, Cheryl White, Sharon White) & Tim Blake Nelson; engineered/mixed by Mike Piersante & Peter Kurland; master engineered by Gavin Lurssen; produced by T-Bone Burnett (2002) |
Come Away with Me performed by Norah Jones; engineered/mixed by Jay Newland & S. Husky Höskulds; master engineered by Ted Jensen; produced by Arif Mardin, Craig Street, Jay Newland & Norah Jones (2003) |
| Speakerboxxx/The Love Below performed by OutKast (André 3000, Big Boi); engineered/mixed by Brian Paturalski, Chris Carmouche, Darrell Thorp, Dexter Simmons, John Frye, Kevin Davis, Matt Still, Moka Nagatani, Neal H. Pogue, Padraic Kernin, Pete Novak, Reggie Dozier, Robert Hannon, Terrence Cash & Vincent Alexander; master engineered by Bernie Grundman & Brian Gardner; produced by André 3000, Big Boi & Carl Mo (2004) |
Genius Loves Company performed by Ray Charles and Various Artists; engineered/mixed by Al Schmitt, Ed Thacker, Joel W. Moss, John Harris, Mark Fleming, Pete Karam, Robert Fernandez, Seth Presant & Terry Howard; master engineered by Doug Sax & Robert Hadley; produced by Don Mizell, Herbert Waltl, John R. Burk, Phil Ramone & Terry Howard (2005) |
| How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb performed by U2 (Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr.); engineered/mixed by Carl Glanville, Flood, Greg Collins, Jacknife Lee, Nellee Hooper, Simon Gogerly & Steve Lillywhite; master engineered by Arnie Acosta; produced by Brian Eno, Chris Thomas, Daniel Lanois, Flood, Jacknife Lee & Steve Lillywhite (2006) |
Taking the Long Way performed by Dixie Chicks (Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison); engineered/mixed by Chris Testa, Jim Scott & Richard Dodd; master engineered by Richard Dodd; produced by Rick Rubin (2007) |
| River: The Joni Letters performed by Herbie Hancock; featuring Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell, Corinne Bailey Rae , Tina Turner ; produced by Herbie Hancock & Larry Klein; engineered/mixed by Helik Hadar; master engeineered by Bernie Grundman (2008) |
Raising Sand performed by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss; produced by T-Bone Burnett; engineered/mixed by Mike Piersante; master engeineered by Gavin Lurssen (2009) |
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Plant, Robert |
| Alternative names |
Plant, Robert Anthony |
| Short description |
Singer-songwriter, Musician |
| Date of birth |
20 August 1948 |
| Place of birth |
West Bromwich, West Midlands, England |
| Date of death |
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![ILLUSION - Out of the Mist / Illusion (1976/1977) ♣ [super-HQ]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121231143546im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0jmuwdrTu-M/default.jpg "ILLUSION - Out of the Mist / Illusion (1976/1977) ♣ [super-HQ]")
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