Led Zeppelin: Part 6, Robert Plant

Robert Plant, Led Zeppelin's frontman, has one of the most recognizable voices in the world and remains a musical force to this day.

Image source

In Led Zeppelin: Part 5, Led Zeppelin III, Robert Plant stepped out from Jimmy Page's shadow and became a major creative force in Led Zeppelin.

Rock God

I've googled a number of lists of the greatest male rock singer, and the one name that is consistently near-or-at the top is Robert Plant. He was the original “rock god”, with his great mane of blond hair, bare-chested with ridiculously tight jeans and swaggering, flamboyant showmanship. He must have been influenced by his contemporaries Roger Daltry, Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison, but he stamped his own individual style on the rock world.

In a 2011 Rolling Stone poll, Plant tops the list followed by Freddie Mercury, Bono, Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison.

For all his showmanship, it is his voice that makes him probably the greatest rock singer in history. One wonders what influence he had on his fellow greats who followed him, like Freddie Mercury, Steve Perry, Lou Gramm and Axl Rose. (For my money, as a pure vocalist Ian Gillan of Deep Purple comes a close second.)

Robert Plant with his parents Annie and Robert, 1949. Image source

Seedling

Robert Anthony Plant was born on 20 August 1948, in the Black Country town of West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England. His father, Robert C. Plant, was a civil engineer who worked in the Royal Air Force during World War II. His mother Annie Celia Plant Cain was a Romaichal Traveller, or Gypsy. Plant ascribes his excellent hair, even in his later years, to his mother who had thick black hair.

Plant took a keen interest in singing from an early age doing Elvis songs behind the curtains. In his teens, he developed a passion for the blues, particularly the music of Willie Dixon and Robert Johnson.

Robert Plant (center) with strong hair, C 1962. Image source

He went to school at King Edward VI Grammar School for Boys in Stourbridge, destined to become a chartered accountant. But he left school at the age of 16 for the English Midlands blues scene. As he said in 2008,

I left home at 16 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.

Robert Plant and John Bonham (centre), in Band of Joy, 1967. Image source

Singing the blues

He was influenced particularly by the likes of Bukka White, Skip James and Sleepy John Estes. Playing in blues bands would not, however, pay the bills so he had to work in construction jobs. He met drummer John Bonham when singing in the band, the Crawling King Snakes. They both went on to play in the Band of Joy, and, of course, Led Zeppelin.

By 1968 Plant was, by all accounts, the complete package. He had the voice, the presence, the look. So much so that when Jimmy Page was looking for a vocalist for the New Yardbirds, he pretty much gave up the search when he heard Plant perform for him. But Page felt there was something wrong:

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.

For all the swagger, it's interesting to learn that Plant didn't think he would last with Led Zeppelin, and would probably be out in a year. “I was quite nervous and didn't get into enjoying it until II”, he said.

The Plant family: Karac, Maureen, Robert, Carmen, 1976. Image source

Family Plant

Plant married Maureen Wilson on 9 November 1968. This was the same day Led Zeppelin made their official debut at the Roundhouse in London, after performing for a few months as the New Yardbirds. If that wasn't a bad enough start to their marriage, Robert left on the first US tour in December. And they recorded their first album before leaving.

Their first child, Carmen Jane was born in that same year, 1968. In 1972 their first son was born: Karac Pendragon, named after the Welsh warrior Caratacus.

Things took a downturn when the family was involved in a car accident in 1975, on the Greek island of Rhodes. Robert suffered multiple fractures to his foot, ankle and elbow, while Maureen was unconscious for a lengthy period with multiple fractures to her leg and pelvis, and facial lacerations. Karac, then just 4, suffered a broken leg and many cuts and bruises. Carmen broke her wrist and also had many cuts and bruises. This caused the cancellation of the band's upcoming concert tour to the US.

But much worse was to follow. Two years later, Plant was on the road in the US promoting Zeppelin's 1976 album Presence, when he received a call that Karac had suddenly died of a stomach virus. He later said,

I lost my boy. I didn't want to be in Led Zeppelin. I wanted to be with my family. ... I stopped taking everything on the same day. The most important thing to me is my family and when I got off my face, I found it difficult to be all things to the people that meant a lot to me.

Robert with his son, Karak. Image source

Another son, Logan Romero, was born in 1979.

Robert and Maureen Plant divorced in 1983.

Robert Plant, a victim to 80s fashion, 1985. Image source

Life after Zep

The death of John Bonham in 1980 caused Led Zeppelin to split up. Like Jimmy Page, Plant was deeply affected by his death and couldn't work for some time. He thought of becoming a teacher and was even accepted in teacher training.

He launched his solo career in 1982. It was to be an unpredictable, fruitful and successful career—one that continues to this day. It kicked off with the album Pictures at Eleven, which sold well. This was followed by The Principle of Moments (1983). But a change of pace saw him recording with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck—a collaborative R&B-influenced project called The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1 (1984).

In 1985, Plant reunited with Page and Jones at the Live Aid benefit concert—a very disappointing performance. Later that year he experimented with hip-hop styles with the album Shaken 'n' Stirred.

In 1988 there was a further reunion, with John Bonham's son, Jason, filling in on drums. He also released Now & Zen, a sop to Zeppelin fans.

Plant's Manic Nirvana (1990), received strong reviews and did well on the album charts, and then he went for a folksy sound on Fate of Nations (1993). The famous No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded was released in 1994. This lead to a television special and 1995 tour.

In 1998, Plant and Page put out a new studio album, Walking Into Clarksdale, a favourite of mine. It had rave reviews and won them the Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy win for Most High. After a long break, Plant released a new solo album, Dreamland (2001). This was followed by Sixty Six to Timbuktu two years later.

To my mind, his best solo album, Mighty Rearranger was released in 2005. It's a fascinating mixture of different styles: African rhythms, blues, psychedelic rock and Celtic ballads. He followed this success in 2007 when he teamed up with Alison Krauss on the excellent country-folk album Raising Sand. The album was hugely popular and quickly became a top seller in the United States, winning five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for Please Read the Letter, a reworking of the song from Walking Into Clarksdale.

In 2007 Plant once again reuniting with the other members of Led Zeppelin (and Jason Bonham) for the first full-length concert by Led Zeppelin in 27 years. It was a sold-out affair and fans clamoured for a reunion tour and album. But Plant resisted all efforts to do so, choosing instead to putting together a new group under an old name, Band of Joy, for a tour in 2010. The eponymous album was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

In more recent times, Plant fronted the Sensational Space Shifters, marking a return to more blues-oriented music. The group has made two studio albums, Lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar (2014) and Carry Fire (2017), both with excellent reviews.

Robert Plant receives his OBE from Prince Charles, 2009. Image source

The honours

In July 2009, Plant was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to the field of music. Prince Charles bestowed the honour on him at a ceremony held in Buckingham Palace.

He has also been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the UK Americana Music Association and been named one of rock's greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone.

Robert Plant at 70, 2019. Image source

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Previous posts in this series:
Led Zeppelin: Part 1, The Making Of
Led Zeppelin: Part 2, The First Album
Led Zeppelin: Part 3, Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin: Part 4, Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin: Part 5, Led Zeppelin III

References:
Billboard: Robert Plant Turns 70: Celebrate With 7 Post-Zeppelin Gems
Louder: Plant thought Bonham lived too far away to hire
LedZeppelin.com: Plant Car Accident, Tour Postponed (Press Release)
Wikipedia: Robert Plant
The Famous People: Robert Plant Biography
Old Stuff: Robert Plant — The Greatest Vocalist in Rock History?

Also posted on Weku, @tim-beck, 2019-03-06