Robert Plant says he feels too much pressure for a Led Zeppelin reunion to succeed.
"A couple of years ago, I said [to Jimmy Page], ‘If you’ve got anything acoustic, let me know. I’ll give it a whirl.’ It was hands across the water,” Plant tells Uncut. “But he walked away. Just walked away. But we couldn’t do anything proper. The weight of expectation is too great.”
In recent months, the lone holdout for a reunion of the iconic band has been trading shots with his former bandmate over the subject.
"I feel for the guy,” explained Plant. “He knows he's got the headlines if he wants them. But I don't know what he's trying to do. So I feel slightly disappointed and baffled."
Page told the New York Times in May that Led Zeppelin remains in a holding pattern until Plant fully recommits himself to the group.
“I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think?,” said the guitarist. “Well, he knows what the other guys think. Everyone would love to play more concerts for the band. He’s just playing games, and I’m fed up with it, to be honest with you. I don’t sing, so I can’t do much about it. It just looks so unlikely, doesn’t it?”
Plant raised the hopes of Led Zeppelin fans about a possible reunion tour when he made the comments in February of 2013 during an interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes (see full interview here).
“You know, the two other guys (Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones) are both Capricorns and they keep schtum (quiet); they don’t say a word,” Plant told reporter Tara Brown. “But they are quite contained in their own worlds and they just leave it to me to do this (interviews).”
“…to be the bad guy?”, asked Brown. “I’m not the bad guy,” replied the singer. “Well you are for all those Led Zeppelin fans who’d love you to say ‘yes, we’re reforming’,” she challenged. “Well, then you need to speak to the Capricorns ... ‘cause I’ve got nothing to do in 2014.”
Plant’s plans have since changed: he will spend the summer on the road with his current band, The Sensational Space Shifters, before releasing a new album, “lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar”, in September.
This week, Led Zeppelin announced it will release expanded versions of “Led Zeppelin IV” and “Houses Of The Holy” this fall as they contine their extensive reissues program.
Due October 28, both albums have been newly remastered by Page and are accompanied by a second disc of companion audio comprised entirely of unreleased music related to that album.
See also:
Led Zeppelin reissues continue with IV and Houses Of The Holy
Robert Plant launches fan contest to create official video
Robert Plant to launch new album at iTunes Festival
Led Zeppelin: John Bonham memorial fundraising event announced
Search Led Zeppelin at hennemusic
