LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — After the smash hit reunion concert last year, it seemed like a gimmie that Led Zeppelin would get the band back together for one more road trip. Fans were veritably demanding it and most the band seemed on board with the concept but there was one snafu – Robert Plant wasn't interested.
Plant, who had been touring with bluegrass fiddle phenom Alison Krauss, took pains to assure the press that he had no plans to tour with Zep again, stating that "It's both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward."
Well, the band appears to be undeterred by Plant's intransigence and in a recent interview with the BBC, bassist John Paul Jones told the interviewer that he, Jimmy Page and young Jason Bonham are casting about for a new front man.
"We want to do it, it's sounding great and we want to get on and get out there." Jones told the BBC "[The band was]trying out a couple of singers."
This would appear to lend credence to rumors that Myles Kennedy, the vocalist from Alter Bridge, was in the running to step in for Plant.
Jones took pains to tell the BBC interviewer that they weren't looking for a Plant clone and went on, intriguingly, to mention a new album.
"It's got to be right. There's no point in just finding another Robert," Jones said, adding, "You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band. … There would be a record and a tour, but everyone has to be on board."
Reunion tours seem to be the vogue in recent years and bands such as The Police done huge numbers at the box office. Consequently there is no reason to think that a Zep tour would be any different and Billboard has estimated that Zep (with Plant on board) might generate upwards of $3.4 million in revenue a night. Furthermore, the time might be ripe for such an undertaking. Last year's reunion concert proved to be one of the hottest tickets in town and the band's popularity, even after a 19-year hiatus, is still quite strong. To date, they have sold more than 300 million albums and a retrospective of all of the band's nine studio albums along with the rarities album "Coda" is due in November from Rhino.
Without Plant though, a successful reunion of the band would be a gamble. Would fans accept them as Led Zeppelin with only two out of four original members? Other iconic acts that have tried to replace frontmen such as Queen, who subbed Bad Company's Paul Rodgers in for the late Freddie Mercury, have met with limited success and the abstention of a still-living Robert Plant may well leave a "Led Zeppelin" reunion as little more than an exercise in farce. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
