LedZeppelin
Stockholm, May 2006
It was the first time in 30 years that Led Zeppelin visited Stockholm again.
The 15th Polar Music Prize Ceremony was held at Konserthuset Stockholm on 22 May 2006.
HM King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the Prize to the two Laureates Led Zeppelin. and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.
To honour the Laureates, music was performed by the The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and a stellar line up of artists such as Maja Ivarsson (The Sounds), The Soundtracks of our Lives and Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and opera singer Ekaterina Semenchuk among others.
Ebbot Lundberg, Maja Ivarsson and Nina Persson on stage at the ceremony.
Jimmy Page, Ekaterina Semenchuk and Robert Plant at the banquet.
The citation for Led Zeppelin was read by Jon Lord of Deep Purple. The citation for Valery Gergiev was read by fellow Laureate Sofia Gubaidulina, who received the Polar Music Prize in 2002.
The evening continued with a banquet in Vinterträdgården at Stockholm’s Grand Hôtel.
Robert Plant meeting Maja Ivarsson at the banquet.
When we started to play together, I think the combined energies of us produced a sound and an energy that none of us had experienced before.
Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin
An introduction
Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones came to Stockholm in May 2006 to receive the Prize. It was 26 years after Led Zeppelin had stopped playing – as a result of the tragic death of drummer John Bonham. The group’s career was a short and intense one in today’s perspective – only 12 years, from 1968 to 1980 – and compared to the huge influence their music have had.
Band of Joy, 1966, a Birmingham band featuring Robert Plant and John Bonham
Interview and glimpses back at Led Zeppelin (1968-1980) with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones, prior to the Polar Music Prize Ceremony in Stockholm in May 2006
Foreplay
When the Yardbirds fell apart in the summer of 1968, Jimmy Page was left with rights to the group’s name and the obligation to fulfill an upcoming fall tour.
He enlisted John Paul Jones, who had done session work for the Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, Lulu, Dusty Springfield and many others. The two had played together on Donovan’s ’68 song “Hurdy Gurdy Man”. Then Page wanted to have drummer B.J. Wilson of Procol Harum and singer Terry Reid. They weren’t available, but Reid recommended Robert Plant, who in turn suggested John Bonham, drummer for Plant's old Birmingham group Band of Joy. These four rather experienced musicians in their young twenties became the New Yardbirds, went for the Scandinavian tour and eventually became Led Zeppelin.
Publicity photo of The Yardbirds, 1966, with Jimmy Page. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Music/records in 1966-67 on which pre-Zeppelin members played
Start
The name Led Zeppelin has a special story. Keith Moon of The Who had suggested that a super group with Page and Beck would go down like a “lead balloon”, an idiom for disastrous results. The New Yardbirds transformed the “balloon” into a “zeppelin”. They took away the “e”, so that it would be pronounced right. The debut album was recorded immediately after the Scandinavian tour in September ‘68 – in just 30 hours. In October they played their first UK shows. Before the end of the year the band secured a contract with Atlantic Records in the US. and set out on their first American tour in late December. The album, named only Led Zeppelin, was released in January 1969 in the US and in March in the UK.
Original photo of the burning Zeppelin Hindenburg, 6 May 1937 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey. (Source: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Navy/Gus Pasquerella)
Led Zeppelin's first album, released in March 1969. (Source: Atlantic/Warner Music)
Breakthrough
Their first album was a relative success, making it to the Top Ten in the US and peaking at number 6 in the UK. Throughout 1969 Led Zeppelin toured relentlessly, playing dates in America and England. While they were on the road, they recorded their second album, "Led Zeppelin II", which was released in October 1969.
It was an immediate hit and became #1 in the US, the UK and many other countries. The guitar riffs, the lumbering rhythms, psychedelic blues, groovy shuffles and hints of English folk made these two 1969 albums a turning point in the evolution of hard rock. They continued to tour into 1970. For their third album, "Led Zeppelin III", Page and Plant retired to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales. The result was a more acoustic sound that was strongly influenced by folk and Celtic music.
"Led Zeppelin II", the breakthrough album, released in October 1969
"Led Zeppelin III", 1970
Touring
The constant touring and the success of the their first three albums – Led "Zeppelin III" went #1 in the US, UK, Canada and Australia – made the band an international concert attraction. They played initially in clubs and ballrooms, then in larger auditoriums as their popularity grew. Some early Led Zeppelin concerts lasted for more than four hours, with expanded and improvised live versions of their song repertoire.
Jimmy Page in concert (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
The untitled 1971 album, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, revealed the hit song "Stairway to Heaven." It is one of the best-selling albums ever.
Success and triumph
Both Page and Plant were grounded in British folk music and fascinated by mythology, Middle Earth fantasy and the occult. Led Zeppelin IV (1971) was the band’s most musically diverse effort to date, featuring everything from crunching rock to folk, as well as “Stairway to Heaven”, which found the bridge between the two genres.
It was an immediate radio hit and is often quoted to be the most requested and most played song ever on album-oriented radio. Houses of the Holy (1973) went even further in experimentation, with expanded use of synthesizers and mellotron orchestration, and featuring touches of funk and reggae among their trademark rock and folk. Both albums were huge sellers.
As the ‘70s developed, Led Zeppelin reached new heights of commercial and critical success that made them one of the most influential groups of the era, diminishing their earlier achievements. Their image changed as members began to wear elaborate, flamboyant clothing. They began travelling in a private jet airliner and rented entire sections of hotels. And they had mystique. They rarely gave interviews, since the music press didn’t like them very much. Consequently, the only connection the audience had with the band was through the records and the concerts.
"Black Dog", live video
"Immigrant Song", live video
Acoustic, folkish song "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" performed live, 1975
Record breaking concerts
The success of "Houses of the Holy" set the stage for a record-breaking American tour. Throughout their 1973 tour, Led Zeppelin broke box-office records – most of which were previously held by the Beatles – across America. In Tampa Florida they played for 57,000 people. In 1974 they took a break and established their own record label, Swan Song. "Physical Graffitti", a double album, was released in 1975. It was a success, topping the charts in both America and England.
A tour started but came to a halt when Robert Plant and his wife suffered a serious car crash while vacationing in Greece. They returned to action in 1976 with Presence, followed by a tour in '77, but a couple of months into the tour, Plant’s six-year-old son died of a stomach infection. Led Zeppelin cancelled the tour and the future of the band was uncertain. Plant spent the latter half of 1977 and most of 1978 in seclusion.
Bassist John Paul Jones on stage in Mannheim, Germany, in 1980 – on the last tour. (Source: Klaus Hiltscher, Wikimedia Commons)
Drummer John Bonham in concert, 1975 (Source: Dina Regine, Wikimedia Commons)
Tragedies
Led Zeppelin began recording in ABBA’s Polar studios in Sweden in 1978 and did a short tour in Europe. In August 1979 they played two large concerts at Knebworth, which turned out to be their last English performances. "In Trough the Out Door" came out, much delayed, in September 1979. On June and July 1980 they did a brief, low-key European tour, and was preparing for the American tour at Jimmy Page’s house when John Bonham was found dead in his bed on the 25 September.
The planned North American tour was cancelled, and despite rumors of other famous drummers joining the group and replacing John Bonham, the remaining members decided to disband.
The grave of John Henry Bonham (1948-1980) at Rushock Parish Church, Worcestershire, U.K.
Album "Coda" from 1982, Swan Song/Warner Music
Legacy
Led Zeppelin was a unique band. Pioneers of rock & roll and innovators of the genre. Their music laid the foundation for hard rock and heavy metal, but it was richer than that. They have influenced musicians and groups, from Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and the Ramones to alternative rock like Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Bands and artists from other genres have acknowledged the influence, such as Madonna, Shakira, Lady Gaga and Katie Melua. All remaining members have continued successfully with music during the 32 years that have passed since the death of John Bonham. Their stories are too rich to just mention briefly. And it was Led Zeppelin – the group that existed for only 12 years, from 1968 to 1980 – that was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2006.
U.S. President Barack Obama and members of Led Zeppelin – John Paul Jones, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page – at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors event, 2 December 2012 (Source: Wikimedia Commons/White House)
Marquee for the film premiere of "Celebration Day", 12 October 2012 at Hammersmith Apollo, London.
Content of biography is presented here as it was published in 2012.
All pictures from the ceremony and banquet © Polar Music Prize.
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Marie Ledin
Managing Director
marie.ledin@polarmusicprize.org
Alfons Karabuda
Chairman of the Polar Music
Prize Award Committee
alfons@polarmusicprize.org
Polar Music Prize
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