Biographic - Sunday August 19, 2018 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

It's 50 years this summer since Led Zeppelin emerged from the ashes of The Yardbirds to conquer the rock world. When guitarist Jimmy Page needed to fulfill gig commitments in Scandinavia. He recruited 19-year-old singer Robert Plant, who suggested John Bonham as drummer John Paul Jones- like Page, a respected session musician- joined on bass. Initially billed as The New Yard Birds, the name Led Zeppelin was coined from a phrase that musicians used to describe gigs that went down disastrously. They recorded their debut album in just two weeks. A string of chart-topping albums made Led Zeppelin the biggest concert drawn in the world in the early 1970s, and their fusion of blues and rock spawned a host of pale imitations. The phenomenal success were counterbalanced by tragedies, Plant and his wife were badly injured in a car crash in Greece in 1975. Two years later, their young son died from a respiratory infection. Then in 1980, John Bonham's wild lifestyle finally took its toll, and the 32-year-old drummer died in his sleep. Saddened and the dispirited, the remaining members called it a day, and Led Zeppelin disbanded. The band has reunited on occasion, most notably at live aid in 1985, with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson fulfilling drum duties and three years later for the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records, with Bonham's son, Jason, on the drum stool. Page and Plant have continued to collaborate intermittenly. Having sold more than 300 million records to date, Led Zeppelin remains one of the greatest and most influential bands in history. As the band celebrates its 60th Anniversary, the rock grapevine is buzzing with rumors of another impending reunion!

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