Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Nickname
-Led Zep
-Zep

Main Members
Robert Plant

Jimmy Page

John Paul Jones

John Bonham (deceased)

History
-Best known for their hit "Stairway to Heaven" and also known for co-creating the genre of heavy metal
-With most of their albums being recorded between 1968-1979, they are one of the most popular rock bands in the world, selling over 300 million records and millions of concert tickets
-This band began at the end of the Hippie "Summer of Love" era. Because of the blues music that had every British band playing it, that was the start of the band. And on most of their songs, mythology and mysticism work its fingers into the music

-When Jimmy Page met John Paul Jones in 1967, he was already an experienced guitarist. In Aug. 1968, Page invited Robert Plant to join his band, The New Yardbirds. And they got the name 'Led Zeppelin' from a conversation among musicians that with a name like 'The New Yardbirds', they'd go down like a lead balloon. So that inspired them to rename themselves 'Led Zeppelin', using zeppelin instead of balloon and spelling "Lead" as "Led" so people in America would not pronounce it wrong
-At the time in the US, British bands were highly wanted and anticipated and were often signed on by Atlantic Records, whose manager, Ahmet Ertegun, had signed them without even seeing them. This man and his company nearly had a lock on almost all British rock, because of the artists he signed were mostly British
-In Oct. 1968, their debut album, Led Zeppelin, came out. The cover featured a blown up Hindenburg, announcing the arrival of more hard-edged rock

-With their second album coming up, this is when their more well known songs, such as "Ramble On" "Whole Lotta Love" "Heartbreaker" were born
-What made the band so successful was the combination of guitar riffs by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, screeching, wailing vocals by Robert Plant and pounding drums by John Bonham
-Their 3rd album, Led Zeppelin III, had a more acoustic/electric sound, with songs like 'Immigrant Song' and 'Stairway to Heaven'

-The band toured a lot during the 1970s, in their private jet dubbed The Starship. Later, the jet was adorned with their famous "Swan Song" Apollo image.
-In 1980, John Bonham died In December of that year, they disbanded
-Named by VH1 as the #1 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock
-They travel in a jet dubbed "The Starship"
-Jimmy Page is listed as #3 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

-At the Led Zeppelin reunion concert in 2007, Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham played the drums and is considered just as good as his father