Page and Plant

Lore & Background

The initial plans for a reunion were made in 1993, with discussions emerging from casual small talk and an invitation to perform on MTV Unplugged. Music producer Bill Curbishley, who had been managing Plant since the 1980s and assumed management of Page in 1994, was integral in reuniting the pair. Page recounted that Plant called him in Boston and said, 'I've been approached by MTV to do an Unplugged and I'd really like to do it with you.' Plant recalled that after Page turned up at a gig in Boston, 'those difficult last days of Led Zep had vanished. We had this understanding again.'

Led Zeppelin's main songwriters reformed on 17 April 1994 at the Alexis Korner Memorial Concert. On 25 and 26 August they taped performances in London, Wales, and Morocco with Egyptian and Moroccan orchestration. The Unplugged performance aired on 12 October and was released as No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded in November 1994. Their touring line-up included Charlie Jones, Michael Lee, Porl Thompson, Najma Akhtar, Jim Sutherland, Nigel Eaton, and Ed Shearmur. Page noted, 'It was heroic to take something like that around the world, because it was using two orchestras: one Western, one Arab orchestra.'

In 1998, Page and Plant entered the studio to record Walking into Clarksdale, engineered by Steve Albini. The album featured the single 'Most High,' which won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance, and was certified gold. After a world tour of 97 dates, Robert Plant left to focus on other projects, dissolving the reunion. The pair briefly reunited for a final performance in 2001 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Reader's Guide

Page and Plant's significance lies in their successful reunion of two key members of Led Zeppelin after the band's dissolution, bridging the gap between the classic rock era and the 1990s. Their MTV Unplugged performance and subsequent album No Quarter introduced Led Zeppelin's music to a new generation with Middle Eastern orchestration, while Walking into Clarksdale demonstrated their ability to create new material, earning a Grammy. The project also highlighted the challenges of legacy acts, as Plant later expressed dissatisfaction with arena tours and production, leading to the duo's dissolution. Their work remains a notable chapter in rock history, showing how former bandmates can collaborate while navigating personal and artistic differences.

Did You Know?

• Page and Plant formed in 1994 after MTV approached Robert Plant for an Unplugged session.
• Their live album No Quarter was certified platinum and featured Middle Eastern-influenced covers of Led Zeppelin songs.
• The single 'Most High' from Walking into Clarksdale won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.