Musician Spotlight: Led Zeppelin

The 1970s brought about a lot of change in the world of music, and one such change was the formation of the incredibly popular British group, Led Zeppelin.

This rock band had a diverse musical style, but when you consider that they had a huge amount of influence on the development of the heavy metal genre, you’ll understand the kind of sounds they were producing.

Led Zeppelin (initially known as The New Yardbirds), consisted of Jimmy Page (born 9th January 1944), Robert Plant (born 20th August 1948), John Paul Jones (3rd January 1946), and John Bonham (31st May 1948 – 25th September 1980).

It was Jimmy Page’s idea; having been the lead guitarist for the final line-up of The Yardbirds, he wanted to continue his music career, and in 1968, he brought the rest of the group together.

Page himself was the guitarist for Led Zeppelin, and although he is considered to be one of the greatest guitarists in the world, he very rarely included a guitar solo in the group’s songs, preferring instead an ensemble feel.

His guitar work mixed with Robert Plant’s vocals, John Paul Jones’ bass and keyboard skills, and John Bonham’s drumming, created a sound on their recordings unlike anything that had come before – it was heavy, emotional, exaggerated, and it was just what the 1970s music scene needed.

Probably the most famous song that Led Zeppelin ever came out with was ‘Stairway To Heaven’ which has been emulated and copied uncountable times in the decades since its release. This song was a mixture of story-telling and virtuoso performances, and it is one of the few Led Zeppelin songs to feature a guitar solo, and a lengthy one at that.

There was a sense of mystery to this song – what could it mean? – that also intrigued listeners, giving it a boost that the music alone, no matter how beautiful it might have been, would not have been able to do. To add to the mystique, the band members chose not to give interviews and to stay away from the media as much as possible, allowing the song to do the work for them. Check the song out here:

Led Zeppelin may not have achieved the same level of critical acclaim as The Beatles or the mainstream acceptance of The Rolling Stones, but their music did make them a massive commercial success through the 1970s, and they have been an influence on numerous groups since them including Black Sabbath and Nirvana. Hailed as the fathers of heavy metal, Led Zeppelin tried something new and led the way for more.

After John Bonham’s death in 1980, the group disbanded, knowing that it was the four members together that made Led Zeppelin and any replacements wouldn’t have quite the same feel or sound.

Despite only being around for 10 years or so, the impact that Led Zeppelin had on the world of music was so great that they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2005, and won a Grammy – the first for the band – for their live album Celebration Day (2012) in 2014.

Read more about the band on their official website.