Why Jimmy Page ‘Slept in’ a ‘Cupboard’ After One of Led Zeppelin’s First Gigs

In 1968, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones formed the famous rock band, Led Zeppelin. Before taking on the name Led Zeppelin, the group completed the Yardbirds‘ tour under the name the New Yardbirds. In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, Page revealed he “slept in the cupboard” after one of Led Zeppelin’s early concerts.

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin once ‘slept in’ a ‘cupboard’

After forming in 1968, Plant, Page, Bonham, and Jones performed under the name the New Yardbirds to finish up the Yardbird’s unfinished tour.

In a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone, Page was asked about one of the band’s concerts as the New Yardbirds. Page then revealed that after a gig, he “slept in the cupboard.”

“I’m not sure that I remember that particular show, but we played a university or high school, and they showed us to a room where we could sleep, and I slept in the cupboard, because I wasn’t afraid of the dark. But I remember that particularly, as far as the first concerts,” Page shared.

What Jimmy Page thinks of the band’s early shows

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Page went into detail about what it was like to tour as soon as the band was formed.

“We had the chance to play in Scandinavia in front of a live audience, [and we realized we were] a band with the sort of power that’s inescapable, with dynamics to really catch them out and sort of push them back with the energy of it. Something which you couldn’t not concentrate on or listen to because it just had so many characters to it, so many different shades and dynamics and points of interest,” Page said.

He continued, “We were able to play the new material we were going to record. We could make it live and breathe and learn by that experience, playing to an audience and see the reactions. The reaction was phenomenal. That gave extra confidence for us to go into the studio, which was what we did, more or less after that — straight into [London’s] Olympic Studios.”

How Led Zeppelin was formed

For a few years in the 1960s, Page was a member of the Yardbirds. After the group disbanded, Page looked into forming his own band so he could keep playing music.

Bonham was a longtime friend of Page and joined the group as a drummer. Plant joined Led Zeppelin as a singer after another artist named Terry Reid recommended him for the job.

Jones did not know Page before joining the band, and he joined as a bassist and keyboardist after answering a classified ad.

Initially, the group went by the name the New Yardbirds to complete the Yardbirds’ unfinished tour. The group of four musicians then took on the name of Led Zeppelin.