Reports that Robert Plant has agreed to participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion are not true, the singer said today in an official statement.
Plant "has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years" following the conclusion of his tour with Alison Krauss on Oct. 5, the statement specifies.
Addressing the rumors that he would be somehow involved with Led Zeppelin, it says: "Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin. Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets."
The Sun, a British tabloid, days ago published a story in which an unnamed source reveals Plant had agreed to tour with Led Zeppelin next year and, further, that the other musicians -- original Zep members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, with drummer Jason Bonham -- were ecstatic over Plant's decision.
That single report triggered a swath of articles in the media parroting the message, now debunked, that Plant and his onetime bandmates would soon be embarking on a tour as Led Zeppelin.
Plant says in the statement: "It's both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward."
What those individual projects are is unclear.
The Sun had earlier pegged Page, Jones and Bonham as collaborating together on new material and rehearsing with an American singer and perhaps even auditioning others.
Unlike the tabloid's later report about Plant, there may possibly be some truth in the report of the other musicians collaborating.
It was in August that Bonham first revealed in a radio interview that he had at least twice this year been jamming on new material with Page and Jones, although he did not mention whether or not any singers were involved.
At that time, Bonham announced he was leaving the band Foreigner, which is currently on tour with a new album due out next year. He said he wanted to have some time off to spend with his family before committing to any new projects that may require some time. He hinted that the jam sessions with Page and Jones would certainly result in something.
When the press took Bonham's comments to mean a new Led Zeppelin album was already being recorded or that a reunion tour was imminent, Page used an opportunity at an unrelated press conference to deny such assertions as overblown.
Jones is not known to have issued any public statements on the situation.
This weekend, London's Mirror reported that Bonham has put some of his property in England up for sale, which it somehow foolishly interpreted as a telltale indicator of a Led Zeppelin reunion.
Today's statement from the Plant camp concludes with one final thought from the singer: "I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects."
So, the ball appears to be in the court of those musicians as to what individual, or perhaps collective, projects they will be moving forward on in the future.
As for Plant, evidently, we will not be seeing him on another tour until late 2010 at the earliest.
That doesn't necessarily mean, however, he would rule out any one-off onstage appearances. So, there's just enough ambiguity in his statement to keep hopes alive for anyone desperate to believe Plant could still take part in at least one more concert reuniting him with Page, Jones and Bonham -- such as they did last December in front of 20,000 fans at a concert paying tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegün.
But following a year of touring, Plant deserves at least a little break. A year ago this month, the Daily Express quoted Plant as preferring to sit back rather than embark on a Led Zeppelin tour.
"I know I’m getting on," he said at the time. "When I do come back from touring I'm shocked to find a lot of my mates tend to be going to bed far too early and that means I should probably be doing the same. Maybe I should stop having a good time and get old."
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5 comments:
Steve,
Plain and simple get David Coverdale to shake the tree...
I want to hear the music of Led Zeppelin in the proper key not a key to satisfy Plant..
As you know I was lucky to see them once in 73 at MSG my first concert , all three MSG shows in 75, Was at the World Premier of TSRTS and and six shows in 77.
Its time for Jummy to say bye bye Plant we don't need you and lets get tour dates for 2008 in the states.
Rich
In closing, keep up the great site...
Rich, I'll pass on that poseur Coverdale. I was never a fan of his attitude or, more relatively, his music.
I do hope "Jummy" Page has something up his sleeve for 2009. He hasn't toured anywhere since 2000. He's about due an outing, and we know one thing is for sure: Robert ain't gonna be by his side.
Thanks for visiting and commenting!
It’s official; there will be no “Victory Lap”.
Now, that’s the Robert that we all know and love.
Like I said before, I was not holding my breath, and for good reason.
I wish that he would have came out with that statement sooner, to see if it would have affected the attendance at his concerts with Allison. That would have proved my theory about the success that he is enjoying with her, was all do to the O7 concert, and not because it was such a great album . . . . but we shall never know.
Nuvo911
Good observations, Nuvo.
You know, all it took for Robert to give us his official, firm denial was for The Sun to claim he had said yes to a reunion.
But, as you point out, he made the statement with only one week remaining on his tour with Alison, so there's minimal effect on ticket sales (if any at all).
Makes you wonder if he would have been so forthcoming with a firm "no way" statement had The Sun published its Robert-says-yes story months ago.
A reader named Laura pointed out the following to me a few days ago:
Robert's website statement didn't say "he would not" participate. It actually says "Robert has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years." If you're looking for nuanced meaning in one place, you probably need to apply it everywhere. As they say, hell is paved with good intentions! Just my .02, but "I won't" seems a LOT stronger statement with far less wiggle room than "I don't intend to." Robert has shown time again his mastery of the subtleties of language and I'm sure that statement wasn't crafted in five minutes on the eighth cocktail napkin! I'm pretty sure the wiggle room is there on purpose.
Keep up the great observations and thanks for all you do for the community!
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