Why Robert Plant doesn’t want a Led Zeppelin reunion

Formed in London, England back in 1968 by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham, Led Zeppelin changed the course of music forever after releasing their groundbreaking self-titled studio album in 1968. The group took the Blues and made louder and faster, being a huge contribution to the birth of Hard Rock music.

They were together for 12 years until the tragic death of the drummer John Bonham at the age of 33 in 1980. Plant, Page and Jones decided that they couldn’t continue with Bonham, since he was a key element to their sound and chemistry. Although they didn’t tour anymore, they reunited for a few shows over the decades, like in the 80s during Live Aid, for example. Robert and Page also had a project in the 90s recording new material and performing Zeppelin songs live.

But their most recent reunion happened in 2007  at the O2 arena in London to pay tribute to the late record executive Ahmet Ertegun. Since then the artists keep getting questioned about new shows but Plant always says he doesn’t want a new Zeppelin reunion. But why the singer doesn’t want to reunite with the band anymore?

Why Robert Plant doesn’t want a Led Zeppelin reunion

Unlike many bands it doesn’t seem that there is any animosity between the three remaining members preventing a reunion. The main reason is that Robert Plant is a really active musician that likes to move forward. He wants to experiment new sounds, work with new artists and do different things in his career. So being part of a Led Zeppelin reunion would be revisiting music he made decades ago and doing that he wouldn’t do something new in his career. He would be only presenting an old, but of course, important part of his career.

He expressed those feelings in interviews over the years, telling the Los Angeles Times in 2022 that a reunion wouldn’t satisfy his need to be stimulated.  “Going back to the font to get some kind of massive applause, it doesn’t really satisfy my need to be stimulated.”

Robert Plant continued:

“I know there are people from my generation who don’t want to stay home. So they go out and play. If they’re enjoying it and doing what they need to do to pass the days, then that’s their business, really.”

Even though he respects his peers who keep touring playing mostly their classic material, Plant doesn’t like that. He said in an interview with Mojo in 2021 that the musicians in those kinds of bands look “sadly decrepit”.

“Most musicians form a band, then they stay in the band until it’s over. 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, whatever it is. It starts to look sadly decrepit. It’s like people hanging onto a life raft, or staying in a comfortable place,” Robert Plant said.

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones wanted to continue after the 2007 reunion but Plant said no. They even auditioned a few famous vocalists after but they felt like it wasn’t the right thing to do.

He also doesn’t feel it’s right to keep going without John Bonham

The tragic death of the drummer John Bonham affected all the Led Zeppelin members but especially Robert Plant who knew him since they were teenagers. They were really good friends but Bonham was also a vital part of the band. So Plant feels like the group was over in 1980 after he passed away.

He explained that in an interview with Esquire in 2018, saying he would be “a whore” if he accepted to reunite with the band and tour. “You don’t even have to talk to me if all you want to know about is Led Zeppelin. Thirty-eight years ago John Bonham passed away, that’s all I know. That’s it. That’s the story. You know, Led Zeppelin was an amazing, prolific fun factory for a period of time. But it was three amazing musicians and a singer living in the times. Those times. That’s not going to stop me doing what I’m doing now. So that’s a headline, or not a headline. It doesn’t matter to me.”

He continued:

“If I didn’t (declined doing a new reunion) I’d be a whore, and I’m never going to be that. I’m only a singer, and therefore I can get bored really quickly. And if I get bored really quickly, what am I doing nearly 70 years old being bored? No chance. So I move on all the time,” Robert Plant said.

He always paid tribute to the musician whenever he could and as Bonham’s son, Jason said, it was one of the reasons why Plant doesn’t want new reunions. It was Jason who was Zeppelin’s drummer during their 2007 reunion.

Although he doesn’t want to reunite with the band, Plant keeps performing a few Zeppelin songs at his shows. However, they are usually performed with a different arrangement. In 2023 he sang “Stairway To Heaven” for the first time in 16 years in 2023 during a charity show. But the musician said that it probably was the last time he ever sang that song.

Eight Led Zeppelin studio albums were released when Bonham was still alive. The group have sold an estimated amount of 200 to 300 million records worldwide. That number makes them one of the best-selling groups in history.