Robert Plant Once Said Jimmy Page Needed to ‘Get On and Do Something’: ‘He Needs to Actually Enjoy the World’
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page worked together in Led Zeppelin and have collaborated since the band broke up. While they hold respect for each other, they can’t seem to agree on some things. A big issue that has loomed between them for a while is whether or not Led Zeppelin should reunite. They’ve publicly spoken about it, but a reunion tour doesn’t seem to be any closer to happening. Plant once said that Page should move on.
Robert Plant and Jimmy Page have publicly feuded over a Led Zeppelin reunion
Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham. Since then, they have reunited for several one-off shows, but they have not toured like many other classic rock groups have. Plant once said he was free to tour if his former bandmates wanted to, but Page didn’t think this was true.
“I was told last year that Robert Plant said he is doing nothing in 2014, and what do the other two guys think? Well, he knows what the other guys think,” he told The New York Times in 2014. “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. It just looks so unlikely, doesn’t it?”
Page said that he would love the opportunity to play with the band again.
“I definitely want to play live,” he said. “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.”
Robert Plant said Jimmy Page needed a new project
Plant has said he is grateful for his time with Led Zeppelin and his collaboration with Page.
“I had no history to speak of, really, before I met Jimmy,” he told China Daily in 2014. “I hadn’t stepped into my physical personality. In Zeppelin, I learned how to apply myself, how to express myself as a writer, how to shut up and listen. So I grew, I got some of my chops.”
He also understood that Page was frustrated with him. He’d recently made the comments about being “fed up” with his former bandmate. Page also said that Plant “would rather play Led Zeppelin with his own band, not with his old band members.” Plant seemed hesitant to fire back and instead said that he’d love to see Page release some new music.
“He should get on and do something, he’s a superb talent,” Plant said. “That’s the sad thing for Jimmy, he knows that I’m his guy, I’m his pal, but the warmth that he needs to actually enjoy the world, it’s all there. Come on and give it to us.”
He should take his former bandmate’s advice
Plant is right. Nearly 10 years after this public disagreement, a Led Zeppelin reunion doesn’t seem any more likely. In the years since the band broke up, Plant has released a great deal of solo material and collaborations; he won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2009 for his collaboration with Alison Krauss. Page, by contrast, has only released one solo album, 1988’s Outrider.
With a Led Zeppelin reunion seeming like more and more of an impossibility, Page should use this time to create new music. If he’s uninterested in solo work, he can follow Plant’s lead and collaborate with other artists. Luckily, it seems that he will do this. In 2022, he announced that he is working on multiple new projects.
