Robert Plant was one of the most influential vocalists of a remarkably talented generation of frontmen that emerged in England in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Besides his powerful voice and distinctive vocal technique, Plant was also a crucial part of Led Zeppelin’s songwriting alongside Jimmy Page.
Many of his peers played a similar creative role in their groups, including the late and legendary Freddie Mercury. Over the years, Plant has shared his thoughts on singers and bands from his era, including Mercury and Queen.
What is Robert Plant’s opinion on Queen
Robert Plant has always been a big fan of Queen and the late Freddie Mercury, who he considered to be one of the greatest singers of all time. “They didn’t come from the Blues, they didn’t come from Rock and Roll. Obviously, with Freddie’s charisma and stuff they came from much more of a theatrical area of popular music. It’s impossible, absolutely impossible to fill the boots of Freddie Mercury because he was so unique. But he was very sincere, very genuine, much larger than life. (…) He was a sweet guy, great voice. A tribute and testament to him, which a lot of people won’t click and understand, a lot of people are changing the keys to these songs because they just can’t do it Freddie”.
“Freddie sang all these songs originally and he sang them better than we gonna sing them. He sang them in the correct keys, he sang them with confidence, he sang them really, really well. His personality vocally and his whole projection we can’t capture. The real thing about today is that he is not here,” Robert Plant said in an interview with MTV in the early 90s during (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
The Led Zeppelin vocalist was a good friend of the members of Queen and had the chance to get to know Freddie quite well. In fact he thought that Mercury was a better singer than him and was a wonderful person. “You’ve mentioned two spectacular vocalists there”, Robert Plant told CBC‘s interviewer. “I mean, both (Freddie and Jeff Buckley) whom had much better chops than me.”
Robert Plant continued:
“I mean, real great, great singers. (Because) I just get into songs and live them out, which is a different thing, you know? I knew Freddie quite well and he was a wonderful guy. We used to sit and talk about what we would gonna do (when) our voices (would go away),” Robert Plant said in 2010 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). Plant had the opportunity to celebrate Freddie’s legacy during the tribute concert in 1992. He joined Queen and Tony Iommi onstage to perform Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” and the Queen songs “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Innuendo,” the latter of which Mercury had told him was inspired by “Kashmir.”
“‘Innuendo’ apparently was a sort of tipping the hat to ‘Kashmir’. So it’s about the desert, the moon, the stars and stuff. So it’s right up my street,” he said at the time. However, during rehearsals, he had a hard time memorizing the lyrics. “Freddie said they’d written it as a tribute to Led Zeppelin, but I couldn’t get my head around the words. I tried to learn them on holiday in Morocco, but I ended up with a huge lyric sheet taped to the stage,” Robert told Classic Rock in 2022.
Freddie Mercury once said Robert Plant was his favorite singer
To Robert Plant, “there’s so few people behind the glamour who really make it as true performers. It’s a very strange thoroughbred condition to be a successful musician and still be able to project it with confidence. Freddie had that, and there’s not many people who have had it,” Robert Plant said according to Mercury’s official website. The late vocalist was truly one of the artists he respected the most, and interestingly, Freddie was also a huge fan of him and Led Zeppelin. He once said that Robert was his favorite singer of all time.
“Back in the old days, we were often compared to Led Zeppelin. If we did something with harmony, it was the Beach Boys. Something heavy was Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant was always my favourite singer-and he’s said nice things about me, you know. He actually said he liked ‘Killer Queen’. We were always a sitting target in the press because we became popular so quickly. (…) As for the Beach Boys or Led Zeppelin comparisons: it’s the combination of all those influences which means Queen. We were disliked by the press in the early days because they couldn’t put their finger on us, and that was the case with Zeppelin as well,” Freddie Mercury said in an interview with Circus magazine in 1977.
Two years earlier, also speaking to the same magazine, Freddie talked about his love for Jimi Hendrix and how the late American musician was his idol. However, when discussing bands and singers, he called Led Zeppelin the greatest and described Plant as one of the most original singers of his era. “Jimi Hendrix is very important. He’s my idol. He sort of epitomizes, from his presentation onstage, the whole works of a rock star. There’s no way you can compare him.”
Freddie Mercury continued:
“You either have the magic or you don’t. There’s no way you can work up to it. There’s nobody who can take his place. Liza, in terms of sheer talent, just oozes with it. She has sheer energy and stamina, which she gets across the stage. The way she delivers herself to the public is a good influence. There is a lot to learn from her. Led Zeppelin is the greatest. Robert Plant is one of the most original vocalists of our time. As a rock band they deserve the kind of success they’re getting,” Freddie Mercury said.
Freddie was not the only one inspired by Led Zeppelin in the early days. Drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May were lucky enough to see the band perform live in 1969 at a small venue in London. “For us was kind of exquisite torture, because they were what we wanted to be,” Brian said.
Led Zeppelin and Queen are two of the biggest British bands of all time. Curiously, both have sold an estimated 300 million records worldwide, which makes them two of the best-selling groups in the history of music.