While all four future members of Led Zeppelin were busy laying the groundwork for their greatest success, Page got a major break playing for the ill-fated Yardbirds, a group that had already seen Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck move through its doors. When The Yardbirds finally dissolved, however, Page already had the bass-playing John Paul Jones’ assurance that, when the time came, he would be ready to play with him.

As soon as Page went to see Robert Plant, a blues singer he had heard about, playing in Birmingham, he knew he’d found his singer. Through Plant, John Bonham was on board with this new group, and the four future members of Led Zeppelin played for the first time in September 1968. Before they knew it, they had a major label deal signed with Atlantic, would release three ever-more successful albums before the end of the decade and remain on the road for a year and a half, conquering America before they’d even played in England, gaining a reputation for being the most debauched, hedonistic rock’n’roll group the world had ever seen. With the blues as their jumping-off point, Led Zeppelin were soon straddling blues, rock and folk, while almost single-handedly creating heavy metal and writing some of rock’n’roll’s most enduring anthems. With no politics or pretences, Led Zeppelin forced themselves into the world with music for the good times, bad times and all the times in between.

Personalities | Introducing Led Zeppelin
Personalities | Led Zeppelin | The Early Years (1968) | Key Events