Led Zeppelin

Constructed around Robert Plant's howling vocals and Jimmy Page's demonic electric guitar, Led Zeppelin's pioneering heavy metal style of rock laid the groundwork for the entire metal genre, making them one of the most influential bands of all time. Jimmy Page started out playing bass guitar with The Yardbirds, soon switching to lead guitar and recruiting Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones as the New Yardbirds to fulfill outstanding dates after The Yardbirds split. As Led Zeppelin, their thunderous live shows and trailblazing albums attracted a fanatical following and by the mid-1970s they were one of the biggest bands in the world, repeatedly breaking concert attendance records and achieving record sales into the millions; 'Led Zeppelin IV', which included the iconic track 'Stairway to Heaven', has sold more than 37 million copies since its release. Symbolising rock & roll excess, their career came to a shocking halt when drummer John Bonham died in 1980 after consuming a large quantity of alcohol; he was 32-years-old. A one-off benefit show in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun formed the basis of a reunion in 2007, with Bonham's son Jason on drums, but as Robert Plant was focusing on other projects with Alison Krauss, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, eager to record new music, looked for a replacement for Plant. In 2009, after failing to find the right fit, they abandoned their mission. In 2012 a film of the Ahmet Ertegun concert was released under the title 'Celebration Day' along with a live album recording of the same name. Remastered versions of some of their best-selling albums were re-released and in 2018, to commemorate the bands 50th anniversary, an illustrated book of photographs and stories was released. In the same year, they released their first single in 21 years, especially for Record Store Day, titled 'Rock and Roll/Friends'.

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