Robert Plant, singer and songwriter

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2022

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robert Plant is a singer and songwriter who was Led Zeppelin’s frontman from the band’s inception in 1968 until it disbanded in 1980. Led Zeppelin sold hundreds of millions of albums and in their heyday acquired a reputation for unbridled rock ‘n’ roll hedonism. Since 1980 Robert has gone on to achieve success as a solo artist and has collaborated with other musicians, notably the bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. Their 2007 album Raising Sand won five Grammy Awards. Robert was born in West Bromwich in 1948. At 15 he appeared on stage for the first time as the lead vocalist for a local band after the regular singer fell ill. In 1965 he started performing with the Crawling King Snakes and it was after one of the band’s gigs that he met his friend, the drummer John Bonham. In 1968 Robert and John joined up with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones to form Led Zeppelin. Later that year the band embarked on its first US tour and the enthusiastic response from American audiences heralded a new force in British music. Over the next 12 years the band released eight studio albums including Led Zeppelin IV which featured one of their most popular tracks – Stairway to Heaven. In 1980 John Bonham died from alcohol poisoning at the age of 32 and Led Zeppelin broke up. Devastated by his friend’s death, Robert took himself off to explore other creative avenues, recording and performing with a wide range of artists. Robert and Alison Krauss released their second album, Raising the Roof, in 2021. Robert lives in Worcestershire near where he grew up. He is a committed fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Black Country homing pigeons. DISC ONE: Pink Peg Slacks by Eddie Cochrane DISC TWO: Serenade by Mario Lanza DISC THREE: I Ain’t Superstitious by Howlin’ Wolf DISC FOUR: Teenage Ska by Baba Brooks DISC FIVE: Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young DISC SIX: Raha Gardishon Mein Hardam by Mohammed Rafi DISC SEVEN: Diaraby by Ali Farka Touré with Ry Cooder DISC EIGHT: Your Long Journey by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss BOOK CHOICE: The Earliest English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander LUXURY ITEM: A basket containing photos of homing pigeons CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Serenade by Mario Lanza Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.9	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.5	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:21.2	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:44.5	My cast away this week is the singer and songwriter Robert Plant.
0:48.6	He spent a lifetime at what he called the sharp end of making music on stage, out front,
0:54.6	first conquering a global audience with Led Zeppelin.
0:57.8	He fell in love with rock and roll in the blues clubs of the Black Country
1:01.3	in the West Midlands where he grew up, deciding early on that he would dedicate his life to it,
1:06.4	much to the disapproval of his parents who thought he'd do better as an accountant.
1:10.8	But in the end, they had to concede he did all right for himself.
1:14.2	Led Zeppelin sold hundreds of millions of albums, their live shows were legendary,
1:18.8	and the offstage mythology around them created a hedonistic blueprint that still impresses fans
1:24.2	and horrifies critics. It was also the catalyst for their breakup,
1:28.2	when drummer John Bonham died as a result of alcoholism, age just 32, the group disbanded.
1:34.0	Losing his bandmate and childhood friend had a profound effect on Robert, a new era began,
1:40.2	one of restless exploration and constant innovation. In the decades since,
1:45.2	his creative journeys have earned him commercial success and critical acclaim,
1:49.8	including multiple Grammys, as well as the satisfaction of playing in the heartlands of the
1:55.4	music he loves with some of the world's best artists. Of his Led Zeppelin years, he says,
	...

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