SuperDave Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Article from today's Toronto Sun on the aftermath in 1977, when Robert lost his son Karac at such an early age. Just a brief article, but a pretty good interview that goes more in depth over on the BBC. TORONTO SUN Plant almost quit Led Zeppelin By WENN.COM Last Updated: November 1, 2010 1:05am Robert Plant was so devastated after his young son's death, he nearly quit Led Zeppelin to devote his life to teaching. Plant's son Karac Pendragon was just five years old when he passed away of a lung infection in 1977 and the rocker admits the anguish made him want to turn his back on the band. He recalls, "All of us had been thinking about what would happen next because the illusion had run its course. "I'd already lost my boy and then you think, 'I really have to decide what to do.' I applied to become a teacher in the Rudolf Steiner education system. I was accepted to go to teacher training college in 1978. I was really quite keen to just walk." It was his bandmate, John Bonham, who persuaded him to stick with music - and Plant was stunned after losing his drummer pal just two years later. In the BBC special Robert Plant: By Myself, he adds: "John had been incredibly supportive to me so to lose John, that was the end of any naivety. It was very evident that my last connection was severed. As far as strong affairs of the heart and a confederacy it was gone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfvr Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 There would have been alot of dissappointment if he quit, but given the circumstances, I don't feel that anyone would have blamed him. A loss like that would take the enjoyment out of alot of things in life. Glad he stuck with it for the remaining time before losing Bonzo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 Possibly explains why he has never wanted to do more than a one off reunion. As much as we would have liked to see them continue after the O2 show, Led Zeppelin ended with Bonzo and I'm sure that's a big part of the reason he has never wanted to do it. Led Zeppelin didn't exist after September 25, 1980. I just hope this doesn't turn into one of these Robert bashing threads. Too many! Just making a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayte Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Possibly explains why he has never wanted to do more than a one off reunion. As much as we would have liked to see them continue after the O2 show, Led Zeppelin ended with Bonzo and I'm sure that's a big part of the reason he has never wanted to do it. Led Zeppelin didn't exist after September 25, 1980. I just hope this doesn't turn into one of these Robert bashing threads. Too many! Just making a point. I completely agree with you. The point was driven home for me when I was sick a few weeks ago and typed "Led Zeppelin" and "Robert Plant" into a newspaper archive database. Everything's glorious from 1969 to 1975, and then the headlines and articles start announcing the car accident, recovery (including all his shattered bones, wheelchairs, "Will he walk again?,") tonsillitis, a temp of 105°, a riot in Tampa, his son passes, the Oakland/Bill Graham fiasco (that happened at the same time, so it's like, "Our condolences, but we're suing your band.") And then Bonzo dies. Oh, and to add injury to insult, according to the articles I found, people were already spreading rumors that he was blaming Jimmy for his woes -- seriously only days after the tour was canceled. And there were a few headlines that said things like, "Despite death of singer's child, the show will go on," and they were announcing that the rest of the '77 tour wouldn't stop Zeppelin and things like that. I mean, I know the media's gonna report all kindsa stupid, insensitive crap, but that doesn't mean they aren't rubbing salt in the wound. Dude, if I was Robert Plant, I'd be real reluctant to go back to anything Zep-related. All that trauma's gotta associate itself in some degree to Zeppelin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f2walsh Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Yeah, I would not have blamed Robert one bit for quitting! The disgusting events that happened in Oakland, the dis-respect to Bill Graham and his turf, and the then the death of Karac....I agree that there is still some trauma deep down that Robert associates with Zeppelin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninelives Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Yeah, I would not have blamed Robert one bit for quitting! The disgusting events that happened in Oakland, the dis-respect to Bill Graham and his turf, and the then the death of Karac....I agree that there is still some trauma deep down that Robert associates with Zeppelin. Just my thoughts but I think after Bonzo died and they ALL agreed they couldn't continue as they were, Robert felt he was only 32 and not ready to quit music (as he's stated) but he knew (I assume) he needed to put the past behind and start a new chapter and has continued to do so 30 years later. Yes there was a lot of tragedy with Zep but my feeling again is that all that aside, Robert has very wonderful memories of his time with them. His sense of humour is pretty subtle and used when he's asked the question of reuniting for the millionth time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 I completely agree with you. The point was driven home for me when I was sick a few weeks ago and typed "Led Zeppelin" and "Robert Plant" into a newspaper archive database. Everything's glorious from 1969 to 1975, and then the headlines and articles start announcing the car accident, recovery (including all his shattered bones, wheelchairs, "Will he walk again?,") tonsillitis, a temp of 105°, a riot in Tampa, his son passes, the Oakland/Bill Graham fiasco (that happened at the same time, so it's like, "Our condolences, but we're suing your band.") And then Bonzo dies. Oh, and to add injury to insult, according to the articles I found, people were already spreading rumors that he was blaming Jimmy for his woes -- seriously only days after the tour was canceled. And there were a few headlines that said things like, "Despite death of singer's child, the show will go on," and they were announcing that the rest of the '77 tour wouldn't stop Zeppelin and things like that. I mean, I know the media's gonna report all kindsa stupid, insensitive crap, but that doesn't mean they aren't rubbing salt in the wound. Dude, if I was Robert Plant, I'd be real reluctant to go back to anything Zep-related. All that trauma's gotta associate itself in some degree to Zeppelin. Just imagine how bad these things would be today considering what's around us. The way the media exploits and exaggerates everything it would be much worse with cable news, the internet, YouTube and Facebook etc. You can't hide anything anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zed lep Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Article from today's Toronto Sun on the aftermath in 1977, when Robert lost his son Karac at such an early age. Just a brief article, but a pretty good interview that goes more in depth over on the BBC. TORONTO SUN Plant almost quit Led Zeppelin By WENN.COM Last Updated: November 1, 2010 1:05am Robert Plant was so devastated after his young son's death, he nearly quit Led Zeppelin to devote his life to teaching. Plant's son Karac Pendragon was just five years old when he passed away of a lung infection in 1977 and the rocker admits the anguish made him want to turn his back on the band. He recalls, "All of us had been thinking about what would happen next because the illusion had run its course. "I'd already lost my boy and then you think, 'I really have to decide what to do.' I applied to become a teacher in the Rudolf Steiner education system. I was accepted to go to teacher training college in 1978. I was really quite keen to just walk." It was his bandmate, John Bonham, who persuaded him to stick with music - and Plant was stunned after losing his drummer pal just two years later. In the BBC special Robert Plant: By Myself, he adds: "John had been incredibly supportive to me so to lose John, that was the end of any naivety. It was very evident that my last connection was severed. As far as strong affairs of the heart and a confederacy it was gone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zed lep Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 In the latest TBL magazine at a dinner meeting Robert said to Jason Bonham that he lost his best friend to the monster that was Led Zeppelin.There's no hiding the fact that a lot of bad things happened within the Zep camp and Robert was the worst affected,so maybe his reluctance to reform the monster is totally understandable.It's no secret that in their line of work tragic events seem to be a occupational hazard.Personally I am not particularly mad about Robert's career since the demise of Zep but if it floats his boat and people want to buy it then good luck to him.Perhaps we should be grateful for all the returns to Zep Robert has made since 1980 because if anyone has a right to turn their back on Led Zeppelin it's Robert Plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperDave Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 In the latest TBL magazine at a dinner meeting Robert said to Jason Bonham that he lost his best friend to the monster that was Led Zeppelin.There's no hiding the fact that a lot of bad things happened within the Zep camp and Robert was the worst affected,so maybe his reluctance to reform the monster is totally understandable.It's no secret that in their line of work tragic events seem to be a occupational hazard.Personally I am not particularly mad about Robert's career since the demise of Zep but if it floats his boat and people want to buy it then good luck to him.Perhaps we should be grateful for all the returns to Zep Robert has made since 1980 because if anyone has a right to turn their back on Led Zeppelin it's Robert Plant. I've heard in interviews with Jimmy Page (not sure when they're from) that he wasn't too happy with all that was happening within Zeppelin back then internally. He thought it was unnecessary for a band to have management and a number of its' employees to settle issues with the use of violence, as well as threats, extortion and such like organized crime. This isn't an exact quote, but something within the tangent. Can't say I disagree with Jimmy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat24 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 There's no doubt fans wouldn't have blamed Robert if he left the band when he lost his son. I personally am glad he didn't. And while there are many events that occurred during the band's career.. I take Robert at his word. From what I've read he's basically, said that the band ended when they lost Bonzo. And 30 years later that's still the reason. And you kinda can't recreate the band when the reason for it's end.. is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzepfvr Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Learning that Robert was on the brink of quitting and Bonzo persueding him to stay, it makes sense why Robert could set guidelines in relation to touring and recording so that he could be more of the family man he wanted to be. No more touring for weeks on end away from loved ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidersandsnakes Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Luckily RP didn't :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Hoyland Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If Plant really has an attitude of "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" then he needs some kind of therapy IMO. It has NOTHING to do with the actual band, but rather unfortunate circumstances that occured while he was in the band. I mean whats he going to do if he wrecks his car tomorrow or something really bad happens to someone else he cares about while touring with BOJ, quite his solo career? But if his attitude is more like "Bonzo Died, and without him, we cant perform anymore without him", then I can see the logic behind that. Honestly I sometimes wonder which it is with this guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leddy Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If Plant really has an attitude of "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" then he needs some kind of therapy IMO. It has NOTHING to do with the actual band, but rather unfortunate circumstances that occured while he was in the band. I mean whats he going to do if he wrecks his car tomorrow or something really bad happens to someone else he cares about while touring with BOJ, quite his solo career? But if his attitude is more like "Bonzo Died, and without him, we cant perform anymore without him", then I can see the logic behind that. Honestly I sometimes wonder which it is with this guy. We are not privy to what was behind the scenes in the last few years of Zeppelin, lets be thankful they convinced him to go back and rceord in 78, otherwise we wouldn't of had"In The Evening"," Carosalambra" and "I'm Gonna Crawl". How many times in music or any industry have people gone back as its the esy option. Robert Plant has stayed firm in not reforming Led Zeppelin after Bonzo and that we have to respect, the fact they did have 3 get togehters for very valid reasons is also a blessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If Plant really has an attitude of "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" then he needs some kind of therapy IMO. It has NOTHING to do with the actual band, but rather unfortunate circumstances that occured while he was in the band. Perhaps you should try to put yourself in his shoes. How would you feel if you'd lost your son? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Learning that Robert was on the brink of quitting and Bonzo persuading him to stay, it makes sense why Robert could set guidelines in relation to touring and recording so that he could be more of the family man he wanted to be. No more touring for weeks on end away from loved ones. That's exactly what he did. The Summer '80 Over Europe tour was a relatively brief affair and when it ended he turned to Peter Grant on the tarmac and said something to the effect of "Right, I'll do another (US tour), but for no longer than a month". The 1980 North American tour they announced was to have lasted precisely one month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquamarine Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 If Plant really has an attitude of "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" then he needs some kind of therapy IMO. It has NOTHING to do with the actual band, but rather unfortunate circumstances that occured while he was in the band. I mean whats he going to do if he wrecks his car tomorrow or something really bad happens to someone else he cares about while touring with BOJ, quite his solo career? But if his attitude is more like "Bonzo Died, and without him, we cant perform anymore without him", then I can see the logic behind that. Honestly I sometimes wonder which it is with this guy. I think that to interpret his words as "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" suggests a need for therapy, too. It's a total distortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheStairwayRemainsTheSame Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I hate to say it but right there at the moment they were destined to fail and I actually believe its because they became SO good fate didnt allow them to have their future sucess in that band. They were just to good as a whole band.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I think that to interpret his words as "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" suggests a need for therapy, too. It's a total distortion. I'm a firm believer that it's actually some of the fans that are in dire need of therapy. A prime example would be this post below: I hate to say it but right there at the moment they were destined to fail and I actually believe its because they became SO good fate didnt allow them to have their future sucess in that band. They were just to good as a whole band.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayte Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 If Plant really has an attitude of "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" then he needs some kind of therapy IMO. It has NOTHING to do with the actual band, but rather unfortunate circumstances that occured while he was in the band. I mean whats he going to do if he wrecks his car tomorrow or something really bad happens to someone else he cares about while touring with BOJ, quite his solo career? But if his attitude is more like "Bonzo Died, and without him, we cant perform anymore without him", then I can see the logic behind that. Honestly I sometimes wonder which it is with this guy. Dude, that's jacked up. If that really is Plant's attitude -- and who knows if it is -- it's probably indicative of something like PTSD, which is a nasty disorder to suffer from. I work with people who have it, and it causes tremendous pain that can last years -- with therapy. It's insulting to hear someone say that he needs to just go to therapy and get over it, because there's tons of people out there who feel they're owed a new Zeppelin. Ughh... Oh, the humanity! I'm all irritated now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Hoyland Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I think that to interpret his words as "Led Zeppelin = bad things will/might happen to me" suggests a need for therapy, too. It's a total distortion. I didnt interpret his words, read the post, I said IF. Im not inside the mans head so only he knows what his deal is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Hoyland Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Dude, that's jacked up. If that really is Plant's attitude -- and who knows if it is -- it's probably indicative of something like PTSD, which is a nasty disorder to suffer from. I work with people who have it, and it causes tremendous pain that can last years -- with therapy. It's insulting to hear someone say that he needs to just go to therapy and get over it, because there's tons of people out there who feel they're owed a new Zeppelin. Ughh... Oh, the humanity! I'm all irritated now. Ive worked with patients who suffer from it as well. Its something that CAN last for years, but Ive also seen many who have recovered rather quickly with proper help. Im not saying he's suffering from some sort of psychological problem, all I said is that IF its the reason he wont/cant do Led Zeppelin or some varient of it, then theres an obvious problem and one that proffesionals would say needs to be treated for sure. But its just as likely the guy KNEW the game was over and as in any situation like that moved on with his life. Sometimes he comes off like the latter is the case, others its not so clear where hes coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireOpal Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Maybe I'm misinterpreting Robert's words (VERY likely, as I find him eloquent but obscure at the best of times), but it seems he's saying the lack of support from the other band members - aside from Bonham - after the death of his son is what really signalled the end of his belief in the band-as-family. None of our business either way of course, but that's merely how I'm reading that particular quote. At the same time, there is still a lot of love between Robert and Jimmy. Way down inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquamarine Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Maybe I'm misinterpreting Robert's words (VERY likely, as I find him eloquent but obscure at the best of times), but it seems he's saying the lack of support from the other band members - aside from Bonham - after the death of his son is what really signalled the end of his belief in the band-as-family. None of our business either way of course, but that's merely how I'm reading that particular quote. At the same time, there is still a lot of love between Robert and Jimmy. Way down inside. That's my take on it, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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