Robert Plant Said He ‘Didn’t Dare’ Play Guitar in the 1970s: ‘I Couldn’t Look at a Guitar Without Blanching’

Robert Plant can play guitar, but for a while, he didn’t want to. In his solo career, he has become more comfortable with playing the acoustic guitar. While in Led Zeppelin, though, Plant didn’t even think he should touch the instrument. He explained why even looking at a guitar was stressful.

Robert Plant said Led Zeppelin songs were based around Jimmy Page’s guitar playing

While looking to put together a band, guitarist Jimmy Page recruited Plant as the singer. He saw him performing at a small venue and knew he would be a perfect fit for the group.

“I went up to see Robert sing with Obs-Tweedle at a college to an audience of about 12,” Page said in Legends of Music Spotlight: Led Zeppelin. “His voice was exceptional. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t a big name already.”

Plant’s vocals helped propel Led Zeppelin to success, but he said it wasn’t easy to sing for the group. The keys of the songs were based around Page’s guitar playing, not Plant’s voice, and he sometimes struggled with the high notes. 

“Quite often everything was in E because you got much more out of the bottom of the guitar,” he told Rolling Stone. “I should have gone to one of those castrati schools in Northern Italy trying to get it right.”

He didn’t want to touch the instrument in the 1970s

In his post-Zeppelin career, Plant’s music became softer. He began collaborating with bluegrass and folk artists like Alison Krauss and Patty Griffin.

“Well, you’ve probably noticed that on the last two albums that I’ve made — the one with Alison and the one with Band of Joy — there’s not very much original stuff on it,” he told GQ in 2011. “But on our tour we just finished we wrote prolifically at the soundchecks, so it’s a very trippy psychedelic trance-like bunch of demos I’ve got here with me. I guess it’s perhaps a bit more languid than Primal Scream but it’s definitely got dark beautiful Link Wray overtones. And Patty, we have written a couple of great pieces together. In fact we’re having a rehearsal in about an hour and a half.”

In his more recent works, Plant has felt comfortable playing the guitar. He didn’t in Led Zeppelin, though, because of Page’s skill level.

“I’m playing a lot of acoustic guitar now, which is something I didn’t dare do in the ’70s,” he said. “I couldn’t look at a guitar without blanching because I was with one of the most spectacular guitar players of the late twentieth century.”

One guitar Robert Plant played sold for a high price point

Though Plant doesn’t have a reputation as a guitarist, a guitar he signed and played sold for a high price. An acoustic guitar decorated with a portrait of Elvis caught Plant’s eye, and he played it for several minutes. 

“This unique piece of rock and roll memorabilia is a Taylor 110-GB acoustic guitar, which was played by legendary English singer and songwriter, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, making this a one of a kind piece as Plant was a singer and not a guitar player,” said Live Auctioneers. “This guitar features a stunning Elvis portrait by famous artist Jason Orberly, and was created for the photographer who made the ‘Shades of Elvis’ tribute book with Priscilla Presley. Robert Plant, who was featured in the book, admired this guitar when he saw it on set during his 2014 photoshoot for the book, so much so that he picked it up and began to play for several minutes.”

The guitar sold for $25,000.