An Open Letter to Robert Plant

[Millennial ZepHead]

Hello Everyone,

In the wakes of the story of Robert "ripping up" the $800 contract offered by Richard Branson, the following is a letter written by myself and a few other "hopefuls" characterizing our still undying hope for a reunion tour. It asks Mr. Plant to reconsider his decision from another perspective. By using the power of social media (and armed with the knowledge that these forums are occasionally monitored by people directly related to the organization), we are hoping to circulate it, in the hopes that he or one of his people might see it and ponder the idea, for what it's worth. If you feel the same way, please feel free to share or post this, wherever you see fit.

I know this has been rehashed to death, and thoughts on it are greatly appreciated, but true love knows no defeat, right?

Thank you,

Millennial ZepHead

An Open Letter to Robert Plant:

By now all of us Led Zeppelin fans have read the various accounts by the Huffington Post, The Daily Globe and others about how you put the last, and final rumors of a reunion to rest by “ripping up” an $800 million dollar contract in front of your band mates and the world. Regardless of whether or not this story is true, suffice it to say that the finality of the news that a reunion after the 2007 show at the O2 arena will never be possible is a tough pill for Zeppelin fans to swallow¾especially for those of us that will gladly admit that we still live and die daily by the music you made, 34 years after the death of your good mate and band. And although I know that your decision is clear -- and your conviction is indeed noble, and quite understandable-- there are a few things that I, and a few other diehard “Zep Heads” would like you to know:

Although it’s clearly not about the potential money to be made (even though $800 million is a sum admittedly beyond that which me, or any other mere mortal could ever even fathom or comprehend), your concerns that a tour would “…be an absolute menagerie of vested interests and the very essence of everything that's shitty about big-time stadium rock,” or that reformation would be nothing but the result of boredom or having nothing to do other than “being a part of a jukebox,” I believe, are misguided. As I respectively have to disagree with you on this for several different reasons, which, incidentally, have absolutely nothing to do with money, but have everything to do with love, passion, human connection, and an amalgam of other reasons which made yours the greatest band in the world in the first place.

Led Zeppelin was about innovation. It was a band that took from those before it and created music that transcended generations, cultures, spiritual mediums and musical boundaries to become a textbook example of the pure magic created by incredible chemistry -- a phenomenon still belonging only to the experience of your fans, new and old, every time they hear a Led Zeppelin song. As Jimmy Page so eloquently put it last month, Led Zeppelin was “an affair of the heart.” Few bands have been privileged to know it before you and few have known it since. It was never really about money as much as it was about preserving and staying true to your sound. This is why your legacy has been so closely guarded, and why I understand (but do not condone) your decision not to tour again. However, keeping that legacy in mind, I implore you to see the opportunity from a different angle -- one perhaps not so focused on the scant, lucrativeness of the whole thing, but instead from the same place of innovation and inner desire to stay true to the music you have protected for so long.

Let me be clear: nobody is asking you to be a jukebox. There are some fans that are just as ambivalent about “Stairway to Heaven” as you are. However, the chance to bring Zeppelin back is the opportunity of a lifetime to recreate the magic in your own way, not to revisit or emulate the past. This is your chance to positively complete the legacy that was so unfairly snatched from the band at the expense and terrible tragedy of your friend -- a chance to have a happy ending predicated on a predetermined path. You don’t want to play music from the past? That’s fine. Feel free to innovate and create new experiences to your heart’s content. The fans will come. You’ve been doing it on your own for over twenty years now, and you’ve been doing it with The Sensational Space Shifters as late as last week. But please, finish what you started, only this time on your terms and executed however you see fit -- with the distinct wisdom and perspective forty years of reflection on the original experience can give. How many of us would rewrite the past Robert if given the chance? What other band or musician would give up the opportunity to change the trajectory of music (again)? Nobody is expecting you to disturb the legend, or exhume the corpses of the dead. All we are asking for is a chance to see the magic of the four of you on stage together, while you take advantage of the fact that you would have the entire world’s attention to play or do whatever it is you wanted to do as a new iteration of the band. This is especially relevant with Jason stepping in for his dad. We don’t want to see you simply for the Song to Remain the Same, we want to see you because, for most of us, it would be the holy grail of musical experiences to walk amongst The Hammer of the Gods, regardless of what you play, or how you play it again.

So please Mr. Plant, consider this modest, heartfelt plea to reconsider your choice. Do it for those of us who weren’t lucky enough to be born yet at a time when Led Zeppelin was going strong. Do it for every singer or guitar player you have inspired to pick up an instrument, or fall in love with music because of the legacy of your great band. The history books are calling you, and so are the next two generations of fans who have been waiting for this their entire lives. But most importantly Robert, do it for the music, new and old. And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long. You honor music by playing it. Led Zeppelin’s music should be embraced so that it may be sufficiently honored and cherished for many generations to come, not apotheosized and avoided as if some mystical, endangered species incapable of roaming the Earth again. So please Robert, I implore you, take the time to view this from an alternate perspective, as we all know that this opportunity will probably never come again.

Sincerely,

Dayan Hochman

Millennial Positivist and Tri-decadal Led Zeppelin fan

[jsj]

you said

"And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long"

he already did this, it was at the O2 in 2007. it's over

[JTM]

[Matjaz1]

He does not want to work in Zeppelin, because without Bonham it is not Zeppelin! No one can replace Bonham and no ne can replace Plant! They are unique and even if someone similar replaces Bonham, it's only similar and there is no way even knowing, how Bonzo would play it! But it's also about friendship and there is no unfinished business!

He probably doesn't even want to work with them, if they play NONE of Zeppelin songs, but do you really believe others would agree on that? Or a lot of the fans?

Stop being so evil to Plant and get your CD's and DVD's out!

[mookieblaylock]

Page is over 70, Jones and Plant are pushing 70. Its too late now. I for one dont want to see them falling around the stage as a parody of themselves in some kind of karaoke act. Led Zeppelin's music means a lot to me and an awful lot of people, and Plant knows this, I'm sure. Its a massive responsibility to go out and perform as Led Zeppelin, and at this point in time, its just too late. Time to let it go now.

[Matjaz1]

Page is over 70, Jones and Plant are pushing 70. Its too late now. I for one dont want to see them falling around the stage as a parody of themselves in some kind of karaoke act. Led Zeppelin's music means a lot to me and an awful lot of people, and Plant knows this, I'm sure. Its a massive responsibility to go out and perform as Led Zeppelin, and at this point in time, its just too late. Time to let it go now.

Yeah, it's techically demanding and now they are just at the edge of still being able to do it, but they don't have the drummer!

Plant still does sound really good though, but he could recreate the albums and go beyond them throughout the seventies quite a lot better then now! And people would like to hear the sound of Led Zeppelin right? Not sometimes a bit too wasted Plant and Heartbreaker with no solo? Right?

[Zoe]

I think it's a lot of pressure to put on one man, I really honestly do. I would love to see Led Zeppelin live...I would have loved to have been around in the 70s, seen them at their peak. Even now, just being in their presence in the same room would be magical, it really would...I'd probably cry. But now it's getting pretty selfish.

We are blessed with amazing recordings and astounding live footage from past glory days. This is the stuff I love and cherish. No doubt they would put on good shows but it wouldn't be the same, it couldn't possibly be. And playing that many dates? Come on. They played the O2, that was it. Time to move on.

I can't morally justify pestering someone in this way for something I want when I know they don't want the same. Put yourself in Robert's shoes...how must he feel? You're backing him into a position where he could be feeling pretty guilty because he knows he won't do it but he has to disappoint so many people. I certainly do not want to put Robert in that position. He is a human being like the rest of us, how do you feel when put under pressure to live up to someone else's wants and desires when you don't want to? And even when you tell them no but they still hassle you to death...do you find it fair? And none of us will ever experience it on that grand of a scale. Think about it for a minute.

This is getting tiresome and it's got to stop.

[Pagefan55]

^^^^ Great post, Zoe

[in_the_evening]

you said

"And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long"

he already did this, it was at the O2 in 2007. it's over

Plant is probably nodding with this post. The O2 show was his way of closing the book.

It's done, no amount of cajoling or begging is going to make it happen.

[SteveAJones]

you said

"And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long"

he already did this, it was at the O2 in 2007. it's over

Amen to that! It is over.

[LedZeppfan77]

Plant is probably nodding with this post. The O2 show was his way of closing the book.

It's done, no amount of cajoling or begging is going to make it happen.

No but unrelenting pressure from Jimmy Page is a different story. Is Jimmy wearing him down?

[chillumpuffer]

[KEVIN]

you said

"And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long"

he already did this, it was at the O2 in 2007. it's over

Am I the only one who feels if the world just stopped buying his stuff and going to his concerts HE would be the one begging JP to put the band back together.

At this point in his life he might need a tax problem or bad investment or two to really get the ball rolling, but in my mind he as always been the selfish one.

STOP BLOWING SMOKE UP HIS ASS...... HIS SHIT STINKS JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD.

And his "new" music for the last 30 years SUCKS.....

THAT IS MY OPINION

[Stryder1978]

Kevin,

If that is how you really feel, I feel sorry for you......

[SteveAJones]

in my mind he has always been the selfish one.

Especially when he invited Jimmy to join the Unledded project (1993) and proposed a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun (2007).

I'd love to show some people selfish but they'd need a mirror to understand.

[JTM]

Especially when he invited Jimmy to join the Unledded project (1993) and proposed a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun (2007).

I'd love to show some people selfish but they'd need a mirror to understand.

[Sathington Willoughby]

[The Dark Lord]

I think it's a lot of pressure to put on one man, I really honestly do. I would love to see Led Zeppelin live...I would have loved to have been around in the 70s, seen them at their peak. Even now, just being in their presence in the same room would be magical, it really would...I'd probably cry. But now it's getting pretty selfish.

We are blessed with amazing recordings and astounding live footage from past glory days. This is the stuff I love and cherish. No doubt they would put on good shows but it wouldn't be the same, it couldn't possibly be. And playing that many dates? Come on. They played the O2, that was it. Time to move on.

I can't morally justify pestering someone in this way for something I want when I know they don't want the same. Put yourself in Robert's shoes...how must he feel? You're backing him into a position where he could be feeling pretty guilty because he knows he won't do it but he has to disappoint so many people. I certainly do not want to put Robert in that position. He is a human being like the rest of us, how do you feel when put under pressure to live up to someone else's wants and desires when you don't want to? And even when you tell them no but they still hassle you to death...do you find it fair? And none of us will ever experience it on that grand of a scale. Think about it for a minute.

This is getting tiresome and it's got to stop.

Well thought out and articulated.

[the chase]

Am I the only one who feels if the world just stopped buying his stuff and going to his concerts HE would be the one begging JP to put the band back together.

At this point in his life he might need a tax problem or bad investment or two to really get the ball rolling, but in my mind he as always been the selfish one.

STOP BLOWING SMOKE UP HIS ASS...... HIS SHIT STINKS JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD.

And his "new" music for the last 30 years SUCKS.....

THAT IS MY OPINION

Well you know what they say about opinions.. and what they're like...

Robert's loyalty to the original band is admirable.. The fact that his closest friend and bandmate is gone means the band is over. Period.

He has never really waivered from this point of view .. and probably couldn't care less what anyone thinks.. it's what he feels is right..

When Robert lost his son, John Bonham and his family were the ones that helped the Plant's through their grieving process..

A constant presence of love and support.. That kind of loyalty doesn't go away..

[KEVIN]

Oh, so after the O2 concert when Robert hinted of a reunion to hype his hillbilly album NO PROBLEM......

Or when he is pushing Strange Sensation 'ya know I am free in 14 ( for Zeppelin ) but come see me now.......

So now we here he rips up a contract and tells the band (AND THE WORLD) fuck off......

THAT IS SELFISH!!!!!!

SOURCES WIKIPEDIA and ME

from wiki:

After years of reunion rumours, Led Zeppelin performed a full two-hour set on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert, with Jason again filling in on drums. Despite enormous public demand, Plant declined a $200 million offer to tour with Led Zeppelin after the 2007 show.[49] In interviews following the 2007 show, Plant left the door open to possible future performances with Led Zeppelin, saying that he enjoyed the reunion and felt that the show was strong musically.[50] Although Page and Jones have expressed the strong desire to tour as Led Zeppelin,[51] Plant has consistently opposed a full tour and has responded negatively to questions about another reunion. In a January 2008 interview, he stated that he does not want to "tour like a bunch of bored old men following the Rolling Stones around." In a statement on his web site in late 2008, Plant stated, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."

In February 2013, Plant hinted that he was open to a Led Zeppelin reunion in 2014, stating that he's not the reason for Led Zeppelin's dormancy for the Capricorns [Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones] «are quite contained in their own worlds and leave it to [him]», adding that he's «not the bad guy» and that he's «got nothing to do in 2014».[52]

In a spring 2014 interview with the BBC about the then forthcoming reissue of Led Zeppelin's first three albums, guitarist Jimmy Page said he was sure fans would be keen on another reunion show, but Plant later replied that «the chances of it happening [were] zero». Jimmy Page then told The New York Times that he was "fed up" with Plant's refusal to play, stating: «I was told last year that Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? 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», adding: «I definitely want to play live. Because, you know, I've still got a twinkle in my eye. I can still play. So, yeah, I'll just get myself into musical shape, just concentrating on the guitar.»[53]

On 30 July 2014, an NME article revealed that Plant was «slightly disappointed and baffled» by Page in ongoing Led Zeppelin dispute during which Page declared he was "fed up" with Plant delaying Led Zeppelin reunion plans. Instead, Plant offered Led Zeppelin's guitarist to write acoustically with him as he is interested in working with Page again but only in an unplugged way.[54]

[KEVIN]

To put it another way people often describe getting a obscene large lump of money as FUCK YOU money.....

ROBERT HAS THAT AND TOLD EVERYONE TO FUCK OFF

[the chase]

Robert Plant says the claims that they were offered 800 million for 35 shows and that he tore up the contract is "Rubbish"..

It never happened.. The story caught on like wildfire, but it's bogus..

[the chase]

oh yeah and welcome to the forum Millennial ZepHead

[JTM]

Robert Plant says the claims that they were offered 800 million for 35 shows and that he tore up the contract is "Rubbish"..

It never happened.. The story caught on like wildfire, but it's bogus..

We knew that all along, the amateurish journalism gave it away.

[ScarletMacaw]

I totally, 100 percent agree with what you've said below. Sign my name to it! I might have rephrased a couple of phrases (did you really have to say "Hammer of the Gods") but otherwise, you have eloquently expressed everything that has been wrong with Robert's thinking about Zeppelin and reuniting. I have been puzzled, despite the fact I'm a psychotherapist! with how his mind works. But you have pointed out exactly where and how his thinking is misguided. Much of what he has been saying doesn't make sense and it has been insensitive to fans, especially the younger fans as you have pointed out, insensitive to Jimmy Page and insensitive to Jason Bonham.

Hello Everyone,

In the wakes of the story of Robert "ripping up" the $800 contract offered by Richard Branson, the following is a letter written by myself and a few other "hopefuls" characterizing our still undying hope for a reunion tour. It asks Mr. Plant to reconsider his decision from another perspective. By using the power of social media (and armed with the knowledge that these forums are occasionally monitored by people directly related to the organization), we are hoping to circulate it, in the hopes that he or one of his people might see it and ponder the idea, for what it's worth. If you feel the same way, please feel free to share or post this, wherever you see fit.

I know this has been rehashed to death, and thoughts on it are greatly appreciated, but true love knows no defeat, right?

Thank you,

Millennial ZepHead

An Open Letter to Robert Plant:

By now all of us Led Zeppelin fans have read the various accounts by the Huffington Post, The Daily Globe and others about how you put the last, and final rumors of a reunion to rest by “ripping up” an $800 million dollar contract in front of your band mates and the world. Regardless of whether or not this story is true, suffice it to say that the finality of the news that a reunion after the 2007 show at the O2 arena will never be possible is a tough pill for Zeppelin fans to swallow¾especially for those of us that will gladly admit that we still live and die daily by the music you made, 34 years after the death of your good mate and band. And although I know that your decision is clear -- and your conviction is indeed noble, and quite understandable-- there are a few things that I, and a few other diehard “Zep Heads” would like you to know:

Although it’s clearly not about the potential money to be made (even though $800 million is a sum admittedly beyond that which me, or any other mere mortal could ever even fathom or comprehend), your concerns that a tour would “…be an absolute menagerie of vested interests and the very essence of everything that's shitty about big-time stadium rock,” or that reformation would be nothing but the result of boredom or having nothing to do other than “being a part of a jukebox,” I believe, are misguided. As I respectively have to disagree with you on this for several different reasons, which, incidentally, have absolutely nothing to do with money, but have everything to do with love, passion, human connection, and an amalgam of other reasons which made yours the greatest band in the world in the first place.

Led Zeppelin was about innovation. It was a band that took from those before it and created music that transcended generations, cultures, spiritual mediums and musical boundaries to become a textbook example of the pure magic created by incredible chemistry -- a phenomenon still belonging only to the experience of your fans, new and old, every time they hear a Led Zeppelin song. As Jimmy Page so eloquently put it last month, Led Zeppelin was “an affair of the heart.” Few bands have been privileged to know it before you and few have known it since. It was never really about money as much as it was about preserving and staying true to your sound. This is why your legacy has been so closely guarded, and why I understand (but do not condone) your decision not to tour again. However, keeping that legacy in mind, I implore you to see the opportunity from a different angle -- one perhaps not so focused on the scant, lucrativeness of the whole thing, but instead from the same place of innovation and inner desire to stay true to the music you have protected for so long.

Let me be clear: nobody is asking you to be a jukebox. There are some fans that are just as ambivalent about “Stairway to Heaven” as you are. However, the chance to bring Zeppelin back is the opportunity of a lifetime to recreate the magic in your own way, not to revisit or emulate the past. This is your chance to positively complete the legacy that was so unfairly snatched from the band at the expense and terrible tragedy of your friend -- a chance to have a happy ending predicated on a predetermined path. You don’t want to play music from the past? That’s fine. Feel free to innovate and create new experiences to your heart’s content. The fans will come. You’ve been doing it on your own for over twenty years now, and you’ve been doing it with The Sensational Space Shifters as late as last week. But please, finish what you started, only this time on your terms and executed however you see fit -- with the distinct wisdom and perspective forty years of reflection on the original experience can give. How many of us would rewrite the past Robert if given the chance? What other band or musician would give up the opportunity to change the trajectory of music (again)? Nobody is expecting you to disturb the legend, or exhume the corpses of the dead. All we are asking for is a chance to see the magic of the four of you on stage together, while you take advantage of the fact that you would have the entire world’s attention to play or do whatever it is you wanted to do as a new iteration of the band. This is especially relevant with Jason stepping in for his dad. We don’t want to see you simply for the Song to Remain the Same, we want to see you because, for most of us, it would be the holy grail of musical experiences to walk amongst The Hammer of the Gods, regardless of what you play, or how you play it again.

So please Mr. Plant, consider this modest, heartfelt plea to reconsider your choice. Do it for those of us who weren’t lucky enough to be born yet at a time when Led Zeppelin was going strong. Do it for every singer or guitar player you have inspired to pick up an instrument, or fall in love with music because of the legacy of your great band. The history books are calling you, and so are the next two generations of fans who have been waiting for this their entire lives. But most importantly Robert, do it for the music, new and old. And do it for your friend, who surely would prefer you to honor his legacy by definitively closing the chapter of Zeppelin with empowered positivity, and love for all the things and experiences it has brought to your life and others’ for so long. You honor music by playing it. Led Zeppelin’s music should be embraced so that it may be sufficiently honored and cherished for many generations to come, not apotheosized and avoided as if some mystical, endangered species incapable of roaming the Earth again. So please Robert, I implore you, take the time to view this from an alternate perspective, as we all know that this opportunity will probably never come again.

Sincerely,

Dayan Hochman

Millennial Positivist and Tri-decadal Led Zeppelin fan