Robert Plant nixes £500,000,000 Led Zeppelin reunion offer

[DieselDaisy]

I actually find reunions very distasteful. Firstly, it is all about the cash. Secondly, the crowds are usually really lame, full of casual fans who want the big hits (here, it would be Whole Lotta Love and Stairway). Reunited bands rarely go into the deep cuts, Neil Young territory. It is all about 'greatest hits'. Thirdly, it is never a patch on the band's heyday. Watching fat balding men replicate stuff they did in their 20s is embarrassing.

There are exceptions though: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and, by a slightly different definition, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden reunited and became touring juggernauts (with fan as well as mass appeal) and also put out some of their best studio material after the reunion. So it can be done well.

True but the time lags were not that great with Aerosmith and Iron Maiden. Perhaps the key thing is, whether or not you are going to focus on new material and whether that new material will be good? In actual fact Sabbath sort of pulled it off with the Dio Heaven a Hell thing and 13 thing. I suppose it is the specific 'reunion tour', i.e. a bunch of farts getting back together again to play the hits, which I have a problem with.

[Cosmo]

That pisses me off, really. Do it for the fucking fans, you fucking asshole. They put you where you are today. Jeez...

[moreblack]

He IS doing it for the fans, and for the legacy. He knows damn full well he doesn't have the voice anymore.

[Gackt]

I think it's Plant wanting to continue on with being his own band, rather than be lingering to the past throughout his career; he's just released a new solo album, so that's likely a much bigger priority for him to support than a reunion tour of a band that's been gone for 30+ years

[Zeppelin]

That pisses me off, really. Do it for the fucking fans, you fucking asshole. They put you where you are today. Jeez...

Uh, what? He did do it for the fans... when they were a band over 30 years ago. Now he's doing his thing for fans of his solo material. I don't know where people come up with the notion that Robert Plant owes people Led Zeppelin shows. It's nonsense.

[DR DOOM]

That pisses me off, really. Do it for the fucking fans, you fucking asshole. They put you where you are today. Jeez...

Uh, what? He did do it for the fans... when they were a band over 30 years ago. Now he's doing his thing for fans of his solo material. I don't know where people come up with the notion that Robert Plant owes people Led Zeppelin shows. It's nonsense.

I agree.

Do we really need to see 3/4's of Led Zeppelin, past their prime, going through the motions?

We had Plant and Page in the 90s, and the Ahmet/Celebration Day concert- enough.

Look at Black Sabbath, who waited 10 years too long to do it- Ozzy's vocals are embarrassing and they made a luke warm album with only 3/4 of the band, despite saying for years and years they'd never ever do another album if it wasn't up to the standard of the 70's stuff.

[Damn_Smooth]

I don't care about integrity or anything, passing up half a billion dollars takes balls. I can't think of much I'd pass up for that kind of money.

[DR DOOM]

I don't care about integrity or anything, passing up half a billion dollars takes balls. I can't think of much I'd pass up for that kind of money.

Right on man, that's putting your money where your mouth is right there.

[dalsh327]

That pisses me off, really. Do it for the fucking fans, you fucking asshole. They put you where you are today. Jeez...

Uh, what? He did do it for the fans... when they were a band over 30 years ago. Now he's doing his thing for fans of his solo material. I don't know where people come up with the notion that Robert Plant owes people Led Zeppelin shows. It's nonsense.

I agree.

Do we really need to see 3/4's of Led Zeppelin, past their prime, going through the motions?

We had Plant and Page in the 90s, and the Ahmet/Celebration Day concert- enough.

Look at Black Sabbath, who waited 10 years too long to do it- Ozzy's vocals are embarrassing and they made a luke warm album with only 3/4 of the band, despite saying for years and years they'd never ever do another album if it wasn't up to the standard of the 70's stuff.

Ozzy reunited with Sabbath at Live Aid and Ozzy's "last" concert in 92, plus Ozzfest and the reunion tour late 90s. I actually liked the solo Ozzy and 3/4 Sabbath set at Ozzfest.

If Dio hadn't died, I doubt there would have been a Black Sabbath reunion, none of the Bill Ward BS to deal with or Sharon and Ozzy's own quirks.

The band members are generally cagey discussing Led Zeppelin, like they've got something to hide.

Howard Stern's talking about it right now, because someone asked why Page went on Sirius but Howard didn't interview him.

[DR DOOM]

Ozzy reunited with Sabbath at Live Aid and Ozzy's "last" concert in 92, plus Ozzfest and the reunion tour late 90s. I actually liked the solo Ozzy and 3/4 Sabbath set at Ozzfest.

If Dio hadn't died, I doubt there would have been a Black Sabbath reunion, none of the Bill Ward BS to deal with or Sharon and Ozzy's own quirks.

Yeah, after the Costa Mesa "final show" there was going to be a Sabbath album and tour in 93 but Ozzy pulled out at the last...they went as far as a press announcement IIRC.

Ozzy still sounded great into the late 90's, it's gotten pretty dire now though.

I have no doubt they are only back with Ozzy as a last resort, it must be galling for Iommi in particular.

[Strange Broue]

A billion to see a bunch of old geezers.

I agree here too. I think Plant knows he just can't sing anymore. Listen to the O2 show and how many layers upon layers upon layers of effects they put on his voice. He has some moments of the past (Kashmir) but for the most part he just doesn't have it and probably doesn't want to try and fail.

True that

Plant made the right choice

[DirtyDeeds]

So yeah, let's also think about this:

If it's approximately $800,000,000 US going to the band, then neglecting any other costs for crew and overhead, etc. (unless that was already included, but it doesn't really matter for the argument), then let's divide this up to see what ticket prices would have to be like to break even.

$800,000,000 divided by 35 shows equals $22,857,142 per show. If it's in an arena, let's assume there are about 15,000 seats. That means, on average, a seat to a 3/4 of Led Zeppelin 40 years past their prime show will cost $1524. Or if they are playing football stadiums and soccer stadiums, let's call that 80,000 seats per show. That's still $286 on average for a seat there.

Yeah, "FOR THE FANS, ROBBY, FOR THE FANS!" My ass. It would just be more stratification of rock 'n' roll. Most people can't drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on 2 hours of fun. And those calculations were just for breaking even, not turning a profit, which I'm sure is the goal. If it's beyond the reach of a typical fan, then fuck it. It's better that nobody gets to see it than over-privileged people who don't-really-give-a-fuck-anyway-but-it's-the-hot-ticket-to-have-so-they-went alone see it. And at those prices, would we see half-empty arenas/stadiums for Led Zeppelin because it caters only to the very wealthy? That isn't exactly the way you'd want to have Led Zeppelin's last hurrah. I saw Robert Plant in the front row a few years ago for 40 bucks. It was an okay show, but he aged like shit, both with his voice and with his physique. Still, I count that as my "Zeppelin experience." I long ago came to peace with the fact that I wasn't born in the 50's so as to have been able to see Zeppelin and other such bands. Their music is forever. That's good enough.

[RussTCB]

I don't care about integrity or anything, passing up half a billion dollars takes balls. I can't think of much I'd pass up for that kind of money.

Right on man, that's putting your money where your mouth is right there.

Just told my boss this not a few minutes ago. He was like "It's so little work for SO much money!" and I told him that makes me respect Plant even more for not taking it.

[Damn_Smooth]

I don't care about integrity or anything, passing up half a billion dollars takes balls. I can't think of much I'd pass up for that kind of money.

Right on man, that's putting your money where your mouth is right there.

Just told my boss this not a few minutes ago. He was like "It's so little work for SO much money!" and I told him that makes me respect Plant even more for not taking it.

I wonder if he even has that much money right now? I mean, it's totally possible considering who he is, but damn that is a lot of money.

[tomfriend]

I don't believe the figures, not unless they were gonna charge a grand a ticket. I can't believe people still try to make a news story of 'Percy won't do a Zep reunion tour'....yeah....we know.

That pisses me off, really. Do it for the fucking fans, you fucking asshole. They put you where you are today. Jeez...

I get real bored of this childish, Adleresque argument. You are owed nothing.

The fans didn't do anything to put him anywhere. They paid for records they got to keep and concerts they got to go to. End of story. His talent put him where he is, and demand for that talent. A talent that he is free to use or not use exactly how he fucking wishes.

When you buy a pie from a baker, you know what you get? A fucking pie. Not the right to come back and demand the baker comes out of retirement 40 years later to bake you another one because you put him where he is. It's such a frigging ridiculous and infantile argument.

And anyone who wants to go see a 66 year old man sing songs he doesn't want to sing with a band he no longer wants to be in is an idiot.

May as well beg your ex for one more night in the sack. Beg and beg until she's so sick of hearing it that she relents. Sure, she won't really want to be there, but I bet it'll be just like old times, right? WRONG

Edited November 10, 2014 by tomfriend

[Gackt]

I don't care about integrity or anything, passing up half a billion dollars takes balls. I can't think of much I'd pass up for that kind of money.

Right on man, that's putting your money where your mouth is right there.

Just told my boss this not a few minutes ago. He was like "It's so little work for SO much money!" and I told him that makes me respect Plant even more for not taking it.

I wonder if he even has that much money right now? I mean, it's totally possible considering who he is, but damn that is a lot of money.

He's just released a new solo album that is (from what I know) successful, and pretty damn good. Between that and LZ royalties flooding in from the 2014 remasters, I'm sure he isn't hurting for cash.

[dalsh327]

He has more freedom doing his own thing and has a good time, he's developed a successful solo career to not have to do Led Zeppelin tours, a lot more critical acclaim than he ever got in Led Zeppelin, and more Grammy nominations than he ever had with LZ.

We don't know how he really feels about JPJ or JP to want to work with them. I could see maybe a song or two, but nothing to do with LZ.

It's a shame that Steve Marriott fell into obscurity when Plant became the biggest frontman in the world.

[The Sandman]

He's waiting for a bigger offer, right?

[GivenToFly]

I wonder how the other two guys feel about him denying them a chance to make a hundred million each.

[DirtyDeeds]

On the other hand, though, if the money really doesn't mean much to him, he could reunite and ask Sir Richard Branson to give his portion to charity. That kind of cash can and would make a difference. And to do this would, in my opinion, still keep the integrity of Led Zeppelin in tact, if not increase it.

[DirtyDeeds]

http://www.gigwise.com/news/95909/robert-plant-didnt-turn-500-million-to-reform-led-zeppelin

ROBERT PLANT DIDN'T TURN DOWN 500 MILLION TO REFORM LED ZEPPELIN

The Mirror's source turns out to be incorrect

Updated: Robert Plant's publicist has described the report as 'rubbish' that Robert Plant turned down an offer of 500 million to reform Led Zeppelin.

According to the Mirror, the rock god was offered a 35 date tour organized by Richard Branson who planned gigs in Berlin, New Jersey and at London's O2 Arena. Branson had already got approval from Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones who both wanted to accept for almost $300 million apiece (with Jason Bonham also being paid handsomely to perform).

However Plant's publicist has told the Guardian that there is no truth in the rumours, describing them simply as 'rubbish'.

Page recently announced that it is very unlikely that Led Zeppelin will ever play again. Speaking to NME during a playback of the remastered editions of both Led Zeppelin IV and House Of The Holy, the guitarist explained: "I don't think it looks as though that's a possibility or on the cards, so there's not much more I can say about that.

"I'm not going to give a detail-by-detail account of what one person says or another person says. All I can say is it doesn't look likely, does it?"

The announcement comes after Robert Plant has repeatedly expressed his lack of interest in reforming the band. He told a Moroccan press concerence earlier this year that Page "needs to go to sleep and have a good rest, and think again." The Led Zep frontman explained: "We have a great history together and like all brothers, we have these moments where we don’t speak on the same page but that’s life."

Plant went further with Uncut in June. "I feel for the guy. 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."

Recently Plant also told the title that he preferred playing with his new group. "We’ve been all around the world, setting places on fire and it’s so much better to do that than to bathe in the tepid bathtub of old hits."

Jimmy Page recently announced that he may be releasing a new solo album in 2015.

So I don't really know what this report is actually saying. Still doesn't sound like he's even remotely entertaining the idea of a reunion.

Edited November 11, 2014 by DirtyDeeds

[DieselDaisy]

"We’ve been all around the world, setting places on fire and it’s so much better to do that than to bathe in the tepid bathtub of old hits."

Totally respect him, I have to say.

[DR DOOM]

He should do it so the internet can call them sell out, washed up has beens who are only in it for the money in addition to being nothing but plagiarists on a grand scale, a shit live band and not influential in the slightest.

[DieselDaisy]

Percy is the original punk rocker. I never would have guessed!! But then, listening to him discuss in a honest manner how Zep stole their riffs from the greats on Celebration Day (''everyone's knicked it'', discussion Robert Johnson's influence on Trampled Underfoot), it is obvious the guy has integrity and a keen sense of musical history.

[dalsh327]

On the other hand, though, if the money really doesn't mean much to him, he could reunite and ask Sir Richard Branson to give his portion to charity. That kind of cash can and would make a difference. And to do this would, in my opinion, still keep the integrity of Led Zeppelin in tact, if not increase it.

Robert's participated in a lot of charities and the Led Zeppelin reunion was a charity gig. He even did the ice bucket challenge (he never challenged Jimmy). Jimmy has his Casa Jimmy charity which he already raises money for.