Formation: 1966–1968 In 1966, London-based session guitarist
Jimmy Page joined the blues-influenced rock band
the Yardbirds to replace bassist
Paul Samwell-Smith. Page soon switched from bass to lead guitar, creating a dual lead guitar line-up with
Jeff Beck. Following Beck's departure in October 1966, the Yardbirds became a four-piece with Page as the sole guitarist. This new line-up recorded an album,
Little Games, in 1967, before embarking on a tour of the United States, during which they performed several songs which would later be part of Led Zeppelin's early repertoire, including covers of
Johnny Burnette's "
Train Kept A-Rollin'" and "
Dazed and Confused", a song originally written and recorded by
Jake Holmes. In early April 1968, the Yardbirds held a recording session at
Columbia Studios in New York City, recording a number of tracks including a Page-Relf composition initially titled "Knowing That I'm Losing You", which was eventually re-recorded by Led Zeppelin as "
Tangerine". The Yardbirds' 1968 tour proved to be exhausting for the band. Drummer
Jim McCarty and vocalist
Keith Relf aimed to embark in a more acoustic direction, forming a
folk rock duo which would eventually evolve into the group
Renaissance. Page, on the other hand wanted to continue the heavier blues-based sound he had established with the Yardbirds. With the support of the Yardbirds' new manager
Peter Grant, Page planned to form a
supergroup with Beck and himself on guitars, and
The Who's
Keith Moon and
John Entwistle on drums and bass, respectively. Vocalists
Steve Winwood and
Steve Marriott were also considered for the project. The group never formed, although Page, Beck, and Moon had recorded a song together in 1966, "
Beck's Bolero", in a session that also included bassist-keyboardist
John Paul Jones. The Yardbirds played their final gig on 7 July 1968 at
Luton College of Technology in Bedfordshire. They were still committed to several concerts in Scandinavia, so McCarty and Relf authorised Page and bassist
Chris Dreja to use the Yardbirds' name to fulfill the band's obligations. Page and Dreja began putting a new line-up together. Page's first choice for the lead singer was
Terry Reid, but Reid declined the offer and suggested
Robert Plant, a singer for the
Band of Joy and Hobbstweedle. Plant eventually accepted the position, recommending former Band of Joy drummer
John Bonham. John Paul Jones enquired about the vacant position of bass guitarist, at the suggestion of his wife, after Dreja dropped out of the project to become a photographer. Page had known Jones since they were both session musicians, and agreed to let him join as the final member. taken by news photographer Sam Shere, used on the cover of the band's debut album and extensively on later merchandise In August 1968, the four played together for the first time in a room below a record store on
Gerrard Street in London. Page suggested that they attempt "
Train Kept A-Rollin'", originally a
jump blues song popularised in a
rockabilly version by
Johnny Burnette, which had been covered by the Yardbirds. "As soon as I heard John Bonham play", Jones recalled, "I knew this was going to be great ... We locked together as a team immediately". Before leaving for Scandinavia, the group took part in a recording session for the
P. J. Proby album
Three Week Hero. The album's track "Jim's Blues", with Plant on harmonica, was the first studio track to feature all four future members of Led Zeppelin. The band completed the
Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds, playing together for the first time in front of a live audience at Gladsaxe Teen Club at the Egegård School (today Gladsaxe School) festive hall,
Gladsaxe, Denmark, on 7 September 1968. Later that month, they began recording their first album, which was based on their live set. The album was recorded and mixed in nine days, and Page covered the costs. After the album's completion, the band were forced to change their name after Dreja issued a
cease and desist letter, stating that Page was allowed to use the New Yardbirds moniker for the Scandinavian dates only. One account of how the new band's name was chosen held that Moon and Entwistle had suggested that a supergroup with Page and Beck would go down like a "lead balloon", an idiom for being very unsuccessful or unpopular. The group dropped the 'a' in
lead at the suggestion of Peter Grant, so that those unfamiliar with the term would not pronounce it "leed". The word "balloon" was replaced by "
zeppelin", a word which, according to music journalist Keith Shadwick, brought "the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace" to Page's mind. Grant secured a $143,000 advance contract ($ today) from
Atlantic Records in November 1968—at the time, the biggest deal of its kind for a new band. Atlantic was a label with a catalogue of mainly blues, soul, and jazz artists, but in the late 1960s, it began to take an interest in British
progressive rock acts. At the recommendation of British singer
Dusty Springfield, a friend of Jones who at the time was completing her first Atlantic album,
Dusty in Memphis, record executives signed Led Zeppelin without having ever seen them. Under the terms of their contract, the band had autonomy in deciding when they would release albums and tour and had the final say over the contents and design of each album. They would also decide how to promote each release and which tracks to release as singles. They formed their own company, Superhype, to handle all publishing rights.
Early years: 1968–1970 Still billed as the New Yardbirds, the band began their first tour of the UK on 4 October 1968, when they played at the
Mayfair Ballroom in
Newcastle upon Tyne. Their first show as Led Zeppelin was at the
University of Surrey in
Guildford on 25 October. Tour manager
Richard Cole, who would become a major figure in the touring life of the group, organised their
first North American tour at the end of the year. Their debut album,
Led Zeppelin, was released in the US in January 1969 during the tour, and peaked at number 10 on the
Billboard chart; it was released in the UK, where it peaked at number 6, on 31 March. According to
Steve Erlewine, the album's memorable guitar riffs, lumbering rhythms,
psychedelic blues, groovy,
bluesy shuffles and hints of
English folk music made it "a significant turning point in the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal". , near
Machynlleth, the Welsh cottage to which Page and Plant retired in 1970 to write many of the tracks that appeared on the band's third and fourth albums|alt=A colour photograph of a stone cottage on a hill In their first year, Led Zeppelin completed four US and four UK
concert tours, and also released their second album,
Led Zeppelin II. Recorded mostly on the road at various North American studios, it was an even greater commercial success than their first album and reached the number one chart position in the US and the UK. The album further developed the mostly blues-rock musical style established on their debut release, creating a sound that was "heavy and hard, brutal and direct", and which would be highly influential and frequently imitated. Steve Waksman has suggested that
Led Zeppelin II was "the musical starting point for heavy metal". The band saw their albums as indivisible, complete listening experiences, disliking the re-editing of existing tracks for release as singles. Grant maintained an aggressive pro-album stance, particularly in the UK, where there were few radio and TV outlets for rock music. Without the band's consent, however, some songs were released as singles, particularly in the US. In 1969, an edited version of "
Whole Lotta Love", a track from their second album, was released as a single in the US. It reached number four in the
Billboard chart in January 1970, selling over one million copies and helping to cement the band's popularity. The group also increasingly shunned television appearances, citing their preference that their fans hear and see them in live concerts. Following the release of their second album, Led Zeppelin completed several more US tours. They played initially in clubs and ballrooms, and then in larger auditoriums as their popularity grew. Some early
Led Zeppelin concerts lasted more than four hours, with expanded and improvised live versions of their repertoire. Many of these shows have been preserved as
bootleg recordings. It was during this period of intensive concert touring that the band developed a reputation for off-stage excess. In 1970, Page and Plant retired to
Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in
Wales, to commence work on their third album,
Led Zeppelin III. The result was a more acoustic style that was strongly influenced by
folk and
Celtic music, and showcased the band's versatility. The album's rich acoustic sound initially received mixed reactions, with critics and fans surprised at the turn from the primarily electric arrangements of the first two albums, further fuelling the band's hostility to the musical press. It reached number one in the UK and US charts, but its stay would be the shortest of their first five albums. The album's opening track, "
Immigrant Song", was released as a US single in November 1970 against the band's wishes, reaching the top twenty on the
Billboard chart. Page played his 1959 Dragon Telecaster until a friend stripped Page's custom modifications and repainted the guitar. From 1969 onwards the
mahogany "Number 1" Les Paul has been Page's main guitar.
"The Biggest Band in the World": 1970–1975 During the 1970s, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success that made them one of the most influential groups of the era, eclipsing their earlier achievements. The band's image also changed as the members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing, with Page taking the lead on the flamboyant appearance by wearing a glittering moon-and-stars outfit. Led Zeppelin changed their show by using things such as lasers, professional light shows and mirror balls. They began travelling in a private jet airliner, a
Boeing 720 (nicknamed
the Starship), rented out entire sections of hotels (including the
Continental Hyatt House in Los Angeles, known colloquially as the "Riot House"), and became the subject of frequently repeated stories of debauchery. One involved John Bonham riding a motorcycle through a rented floor of the Riot House, while another involved the destruction of a room in the Tokyo
Hilton, leading to the group being banned from that establishment for life. Although Led Zeppelin developed a reputation for trashing their hotel suites and throwing television sets out of the windows, some suggest that these tales have been exaggerated. According to music journalist
Chris Welch, "[Led Zeppelin's] travels spawned many stories, but it was a myth that [they] were constantly engaged in acts of wanton destruction and lewd behaviour". Led Zeppelin released their
fourth album on 8 November 1971. The album is officially untitled but variously referred to as
Led Zeppelin IV,
Untitled,
IV, or, due to the four symbols appearing on the record label, as
Four Symbols,
Zoso or
Runes. The band had wanted to release the fourth album with no title or information, in response to the music press "going on about Zeppelin being a hype", but the record company wanted something on the cover, so in discussions, it was agreed to have four symbols to represent both the four members of the band and that it was the fourth album. With 37 million copies sold,
Led Zeppelin IV is one of the
best-selling albums in history, and its massive popularity cemented Led Zeppelin's status as superstars in the 1970s. By 2021, it had sold 24 million copies in the United States alone. The track "
Stairway to Heaven", never released as a single, was the most requested and most played song on American rock radio in the 1970s. The group followed up the album's release with
tours of the UK,
Australasia,
North America,
Japan, and
the UK again from late 1971 through early 1973. in March 1973, just before the release of the band's fifth album,
Houses of the Holy.|alt=A black and white photograph of Robert Plant with a tambourine and Jimmy Page with an acoustic guitar seated and performing. Led Zeppelin's next album,
Houses of the Holy, was released in March 1973. It featured further experimentation by the band, who expanded their use of synthesisers and
mellotron orchestration. The predominantly orange album cover, designed by the London-based design group
Hipgnosis, depicts images of nude children climbing the
Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. Although the children are not shown from the front, the cover was controversial at the time of the album's release. As with the band's fourth album, neither their name nor the album title was printed on the sleeve.
Houses of the Holy topped charts worldwide, and the band's subsequent
concert tour of North America in 1973 broke records for attendance, as they consistently filled large auditoriums and stadiums. At
Tampa Stadium in Florida, they played to 56,800 fans, breaking the record set by
the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert and grossing $309,000. Three sold-out shows at
Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for a motion picture, but the theatrical release of this project (
The Song Remains the Same) was delayed until 1976. Before the final night's performance, $180,000 ($ today) of the band's money from gate receipts was stolen from a safe deposit box at the
Drake Hotel. in January 1975, a few weeks before the release of
Physical Graffiti.|alt=A colour photograph of the four members of Led Zeppelin performing onstage, with some other figures visible in the background. In 1974, Led Zeppelin took a break from touring and launched their own record label,
Swan Song, named after an unreleased song. The record label's logo is based on a drawing called
Evening: Fall of Day (1869) by
William Rimmer. The drawing features a figure of a winged human-like being interpreted as either
Apollo or
Icarus. The logo can be found on Led Zeppelin memorabilia, especially T-shirts. In addition to using Swan Song as a vehicle to promote their own albums, the band expanded the label's roster, signing artists such as
Bad Company,
the Pretty Things and
Maggie Bell. The label was successful while Led Zeppelin existed, but folded less than three years after they disbanded. In 1975, Led Zeppelin's double album
Physical Graffiti was their first release on the Swan Song label. It consisted of fifteen songs, of which eight had been recorded at
Headley Grange in 1974 and seven had been recorded earlier. A review in
Rolling Stone magazine referred to
Physical Graffiti as Led Zeppelin's "bid for artistic respectability", adding that the only bands Led Zeppelin had to compete with for the title "The World's Best Rock Band" were
the Rolling Stones and the Who. The album was a massive commercial and critical success. Shortly after the release of
Physical Graffiti, all previous Led Zeppelin albums simultaneously re-entered the top-200 album chart, and the band embarked on another
North American tour, now employing sophisticated sound and lighting systems. In May 1975, Led Zeppelin played five sold-out nights at the
Earls Court Arena in London, at the time the largest arena in Britain.
Hiatus from touring and return: 1975–1977 in Chicago on 10 April 1977, during Led Zeppelin's last North American tour|alt=A colour photograph of Robert Plant with microphone and Jimmy Page with a double necked guitar performing on stage. Following their triumphant
Earls Court appearances, Led Zeppelin took a holiday and planned an autumn tour in America, scheduled to open with two outdoor dates in San Francisco. In August 1975, however, Plant and his wife Maureen were involved in a serious car crash while on holiday in
Rhodes, Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle and Maureen was badly injured; a blood transfusion saved her life. Unable to tour, he headed to the
Channel Island of
Jersey to spend August and September recuperating, with Bonham and Page in tow. The band then reconvened in
Malibu, California. During this forced hiatus, much of the material for their next album,
Presence, was written. By this time, Led Zeppelin were the world's number one rock attraction, having outsold most bands of the time, including the Rolling Stones.
Presence, released in March 1976, marked a change in the Led Zeppelin sound towards more straightforward, guitar-based jams, departing from the acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements featured on their previous albums. Though it was a
platinum seller,
Presence received a mixed reaction among fans and the music press, with some critics suggesting that the band's excesses may have caught up with them. Page had been using heroin regularly since 1975 and relied on it during the rapid recording sessions for the album, a habit which affected the band's later live shows and studio recordings, although he has since denied this. , Michigan, where the band set a record for the largest solo indoor attraction in 1977 with an attendance of 76,229|alt=a colour photograph of a large domed stadium Because of Plant's injuries, Led Zeppelin did not tour in 1976. Instead, the band completed the concert film
The Song Remains the Same and the accompanying
soundtrack album. The film premiered in New York City on 20 October 1976, but was given a lukewarm reception by critics and fans. The film was particularly unsuccessful in the UK, where, unwilling to tour since 1975 because of their
tax exile status, Led Zeppelin faced an uphill battle to recapture the public's affection. In 1977, Led Zeppelin embarked on another major
concert tour of North America. The band set another attendance record, with an audience of 76,229 at their
Silverdome concert on 30 April. It was, according to the
Guinness Book of Records, the largest attendance to that date for a single act show. Although the tour was financially profitable, it was beset by off-stage problems. On 19 April, over 70 people were arrested as about 1,000 fans tried to gatecrash Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum for two sold-out concerts, while others tried to gain entry by throwing rocks and bottles through glass doors. On 3 June, a concert at Tampa Stadium was cut short because of a severe thunderstorm, despite tickets indicating "Rain or Shine". A riot broke out, resulting in arrests and injuries. After the 23 July show at the
Day on the Green festival at the
Oakland Coliseum in
Oakland, California, Bonham and members of Led Zeppelin's support staff were arrested after a member of promoter
Bill Graham's staff was badly beaten during the band's performance by Zeppelin manager Peter Grant and one of his security staff, John Bindon. The following day's second Oakland concert was the group's final live appearance in the United States. Two days later, as they checked in at a
French Quarter hotel for their 30 July performance at the
Louisiana Superdome, Plant received news that his five-year-old son, Karac, had died from a stomach virus. The rest of the tour was immediately cancelled, prompting widespread speculation about Led Zeppelin's future.
Bonham's death and break-up: 1978–1980 In November 1978, the group recorded at
Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. The resulting album,
In Through the Out Door, featured sonic experimentation that again drew mixed reactions from critics. Nevertheless, the album reached number one in the UK and the US in just its second week of release. With this album's release, Led Zeppelin's entire catalogue returned to the
Billboard Top 200 in the weeks of 27 October and 3 November 1979. In August 1979, after two warm-up shows in
Copenhagen, Led Zeppelin headlined
two concerts at the
Knebworth Music Festival, playing to a crowd of approximately 104,000 on the first night. A brief, low-key
European tour was undertaken in June and July 1980, featuring a stripped-down set without the usual lengthy jams and solos. On 27 June, at a show in
Nuremberg, West Germany, the concert came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the third song, when Bonham collapsed onstage and was rushed to hospital. Speculation in the press suggested that his collapse had been the result of excessive alcohol and drug use, but the band claimed that he had simply overeaten.
A North American tour, the band's first since 1977, was scheduled to commence on 17 October 1980. On 24 September, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at
Bray Studios. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (from ), with a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant, "breakfast". He continued to drink heavily after arriving at the studio. The rehearsals were halted late that evening and the band retired to Page's house—the Old Mill House in
Clewer,
Windsor. After midnight, Bonham, who had fallen asleep, was taken to bed and placed on his side. At 1:45 pm the next day, Benji LeFevre (Led Zeppelin's new tour manager) and John Paul Jones found Bonham dead. The cause of death was
asphyxiation from vomit; the finding was accidental death. An
autopsy found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's body. Although he had recently begun to take Motival (a cocktail of the
antipsychotic fluphenazine and the
tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline) to combat his anxiety, it is unclear if these substances interacted with the alcohol in his system. Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980, at
Rushock parish church,
Worcestershire. The planned North American tour was cancelled, and despite rumours that
Cozy Powell,
Carmine Appice,
Barriemore Barlow,
Simon Kirke,
Ric Lee or
Bev Bevan would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members decided to disband. A 4 December 1980 press statement stated that, "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend, and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were." while Plant characterised it as an "atrocity". The three members reunited again on 14 May 1988, for the
Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son
Jason on drums. The result was again disjointed: Plant and Page had argued immediately before taking the stage about whether to play "Stairway to Heaven", and Jones' keyboards were absent from the live television feed. Page described the performance as "one big disappointment" and Plant said "the gig was foul".
1990s , who filled his late father's position for reunions in 1988, 1995 and 2007|alt=A colour photograph of Jason Bonham playing drums The first
Led Zeppelin box set, featuring tracks remastered under Page's supervision, was released in 1990 and bolstered the band's reputation, leading to abortive discussions among members about a reunion. This set included four previously unreleased tracks, including a version of
Robert Johnson's "
Travelling Riverside Blues". The song peaked at number seven on the
Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.
Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2 was released in 1993; the two box sets together contained all known studio recordings, as well as some rare live tracks. In 1994,
Page and Plant reunited for a 90-minute "UnLedded" MTV project. They later released an album called
No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, which featured some reworked Led Zeppelin songs, and embarked on a world tour the following year. This is said to be the beginning of a rift between the band members, as Jones was not even told of the reunion. In 1995, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the United States
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by
Steven Tyler and
Joe Perry of
Aerosmith. Jason and Zoë Bonham also attended, representing their late father. At the
induction ceremony, the band's inner rift became apparent when Jones joked upon accepting his award, "Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number", causing consternation and awkward looks from Page and Plant. Afterwards, they played one brief set with Tyler and Perry, with Jason Bonham on drums, and then a second with
Neil Young, this time with
Michael Lee playing the drums. In 1997, Atlantic released a single edit of "Whole Lotta Love" in the US and the UK, the only single the band released in their homeland, where it peaked at number 21. November 1997 saw the release of
Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions, a two-disc set largely recorded in 1969 and 1971. Page and Plant released another album called
Walking into Clarksdale in 1998, featuring all new material, but after disappointing sales, the partnership dissolved before a planned Australian tour.
2000s in London in December 2007|alt=A colour photograph of John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page performing on stage, with Jason Bonham partially visible on drums in the background The year 2003 saw the release of the triple live album
How the West Was Won, and
Led Zeppelin DVD, a six-hour chronological set of live footage that became the best-selling music DVD in history. In July 2007, Atlantic/
Rhino and
Warner Home Video announced three Zeppelin titles to be released that November:
Mothership, a 24-track best-of spanning the band's career; a reissue of the soundtrack
The Song Remains the Same, including previously unreleased material; and a new DVD. Zeppelin also made their catalogue legally available for download, becoming one of the last major rock bands to do so. On 10 December 2007, Zeppelin reunited for the
Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at
the O2 Arena in London, with Jason Bonham again taking his father's place on drums. According to
Guinness World Records 2009, the show set a record for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" as 20 million requests were submitted online. Critics praised the performance and there was widespread speculation about a full reunion. Page, Jones and Jason Bonham were reported to be willing to tour and to be working on material for a new Zeppelin project. Plant continued his touring commitments with
Alison Krauss, stating in September 2008 that he would not record or tour with the band. "I told them I was busy and they'd simply have to wait," he recalled in 2014. "I would come around eventually, which they were fine with – at least to my knowledge. But it turns out they weren't. And what's even more disheartening, Jimmy used it against me." Jones and Page reportedly looked for a replacement for Plant; candidates including
Steven Tyler of
Aerosmith, and
Myles Kennedy of
Alter Bridge. However, in January 2009, it was confirmed that the project had been abandoned. "Getting the opportunity to play with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham was pretty special," Kennedy recalled. "That is pretty much the zenith right there. That was a crazy, good experience. It's something I still think of often ... It's so precious to me."
2010s '' at the
Hammersmith Apollo in London, October 2012 A film of the O2 performance,
Celebration Day, premiered on 17 October 2012 and was released on DVD on 19 November. The film grossed $2 million in one night, and the live album peaked at number 4 and 9 in the UK and US, respectively. Following the film's premiere, Page revealed that he had been
remastering the band's discography. The first wave of albums,
Led Zeppelin,
Led Zeppelin II, and
Led Zeppelin III, were released on 2 June 2014. The second wave of albums,
Led Zeppelin IV and
Houses of the Holy, were released on 27 October 2014.
Physical Graffiti was released on 23 February 2015, almost exactly forty years to the day after the original release. The fourth and final wave of studio album reissues,
Presence,
In Through the Out Door, and
Coda, were released on 31 July 2015. Through this remastering project, each studio album was reissued on CD and vinyl and was also available in a Deluxe Edition, which contained a bonus disc of previously unheard material (
Codas Deluxe Edition would include two bonus discs). Each album was also available in a Super Deluxe Edition Box Set, which included the remastered album and bonus disc on both CD and 180-gram vinyl, a high-definition audio download card of all content at 96 kHz/24 bit, a hardbound book filled with rare and previously unseen photos and memorabilia, and a high-quality print of the original album cover. On 6 November 2015, the
Mothership compilation was reissued using the band's newly remastered audio tracks. The reissuing campaign continued the next year with the re-release of
BBC Sessions on 16 September 2016. The reissue contained a bonus disc with nine unreleased
BBC recordings, including the heavily bootlegged but never officially released "Sunshine Woman". To commemorate the band's 50th anniversary, Page, Plant and Jones announced an official illustrated book celebrating 50 years since the formation of the band. Also released for the celebration was a reissue of
How the West Was Won on 23 March 2018, which includes the album's first pressing on vinyl. For
Record Store Day on 21 April 2018, Led Zeppelin released a 7" single
"Rock and Roll" (Sunset Sound Mix)/
"Friends" (Olympic Studio Mix), their first single in 21 years.
2020s In October 2020, Page released a photo collection called
Jimmy Page: The Anthology, in which it was confirmed a documentary was in the works for the band's 50th anniversary. A work-in-progress version of the documentary film, titled
Becoming Led Zeppelin, was screened at the
Venice Film Festival in 2021. It was the first time the band's members had agreed to participate in a biographical documentary. The completed film premiered in
IMAX in several countries on 7 February 2025. == Artistry ==