Led Zeppelin

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture by Dave Goldweber

One of the all-time greatest rock bands, Led Zeppelin formed in 1968 with Jimmy Page (formerly of the Yardbirds) on guitar, Robert Plant as vocalist, John Bonham on drums, and John Paul Jones on bass/keyboards. They found success with their self-titled first album in 1969, which contained heavy blues-driven rock songs that carried a frightening manic edge never before heard in popular music. Their second album, Led Zeppelin II, (1969), brought further success buoyed by top ten single, "Whole Lotta Love." The old-time blues and acoustic tunes on Led Zeppelin III (1970) were less popular than earlier efforts, but Zeppelin returned the following year with their most acclaimed work ever. Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a. Zoso, 1971) contained the fiery "Black Dog" and the nostalgic, dreamy epic, "Stairway to Heaven," which remains among the most loved and respected songs in all popular music, routinely voted #1 on all-time best lists, possessing a status and reputation unlikely ever to be equaled.

Impressively, Zeppelin was able to maintain their high level of success. The well-balanced Houses of the Holy (1973) showed a funk and reggae influence and is considered by many to be the band's all-around best album. The double album, Physical Graffiti (1975), was Zeppelin's most diverse album, containing some of their most beautiful acoustic pieces (such as "bron-Yr-Aur"), as well some of their most driving and powerful epics (such as "Kashmir"). In subsequent years, Zeppelin released the heavy Presence (1976), the live The Song Remains the Same, (1976), and the melodic In Through the Out Door (1979). Tragedy struck in 1980 when Bonham died of asphyxiation after a bout of drinking. The band was forced to break up, although Page and Plant both went on to further success; Page doing soundtracks and playing in his group The Firm; Plant was very popular during the 1980s with solo albums and with his group The Honeydrippers. Page and Plant occasionally played as a duo, appearing on MTV's Unplugged.

Led Zeppelin's music is quite diverse. As the icons of 1970s hard rock, they are best known for the scorching guitar work, screeching vocals, pounding drums, and the driving beats of their heaviest songs; but their repertoire includes lilting love songs, covers of traditional folk and blues songs, and standard rock 'n' roll. Some Zeppelin songs explore Tolkienesque fantasy elements, others show a freewheeling spirit of hippy adventure and fun, while still others show a sad, mystic longing for joys gone and times past.

Zeppelin albums have been innovative not just with content but with design. The sleeve of Physical Graffiti displayed various objects and personages who could be made to appear and disappear in various "windows," while the sleeve of Led Zeppelin III was a moveable psychedelic pinwheel; and Led Zeppelin IV appeared with no band or title information anywhere on the jacket. In Through The Out Door came wrapped in brown paper and was released with six different covers; the album's inner sleeve changed colors when dampened. Mysterious symbols on album covers, mysterious song titles, and a general avoidance of interviews all led to a sense that the band and its music were filled with deep, hidden meanings. Hostile critics feared that these meanings were Satanic, leading to the false but widespread rumor that "Stairway to Heaven" contained pro-Satan messages when played backwards on a turntable.

Zeppelin tours were hugely popular in the mid 1970s, with powerful drum solos by Bonham, grotesque guitar solos by Page (some of which featured Page scraping his guitar strings with a violin bow), and the sweaty sex-appeal of bare-chested Plant. At their peak of popularity (1973-76), Zeppelin regularly played to stadium and arena crowds of 50,000 plus. The excellent Song Remains The Same movie (released in 1976 alongside the album) features heavy jamming, extended solos from Page and Bonham, and a quartet of remarkable quasi-videos, each of which features one of the band members on a personal adventure, with Zeppelin songs comprising the backgrounds.

Led Zeppelin's impact on popular music has been tremendous. Along with Black Sabbath, Zeppelin is considered one of the forefathers of blues-based hard rock in general and of Heavy Metal in particular, their legacy apparent in groups such as Kiss, Queen, Rush, Iron Maiden, and Metallica. Led Zeppelin are also among the forefathers of 1990s Seattle Grunge music, with echoes to be found in groups such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Soundgarden. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Zeppelin has remained among the most popular rock bands, continuing to sell albums and to receive regular radio airplay. In the 1990s, Atlantic Records released remastered versions of all Zeppelin's albums, as well as two boxed sets, a 10-CD set of complete recordings, and various documentary and concert videos. Continuing publications of books, websites, and fan magazines in both the United States and United Kingdom are an ongoing testament to the status of Led Zeppelin as one of the top all-time legendary bands in rock.