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Wed 13 August 2025 18:07, UK
Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has explained in a new interview why the band will never reunite again.
Led Zeppelin last reunited for a show at London’s O2 Arena in 2007, celebrating the late Ahmet Ertegun, who co-founded Atlantic Records. Plant was adamant it was a one-off, special occasion at the time. While lucrative offers rolled in to tempt the band on a global tour, Plant stood firm, and almost 20 years later, he remains convinced they’ll never perform again.
Now, Plant is focused on performing with Saving Grace. His new album, also called Saving Grace, will be released on September 26th through Nonesuch Records.
In another universe, Plant is playing stadiums with a reformed Led Zeppelin line-up. However, performing in theatres with his acoustic band is much more alluring, as he told Mojo in a new interview: “For me, because I’ve been from a very questionable Live Aid to the O2, to Obama and the White House and all those things, I was beatified. I felt the tug of doing this – Saving Grace needed just to move on up in glory, as Mavis [Staples] would say.”
The rock icon continued: “We’ve got to be very careful now that we make sure it stays closer to Bert Jansch than Axl Rose.”
Plant also explained that Saving Grace shows don’t come with the same level of pressure of a Led Zeppelin concert, sharing, “The gigs are small enough so that if nobody wants to go, it’s not the end of the world. And so, by having that laissez-faire, easy-going, whatever it’s called – suicidal! – attitude, instead of doing the football stadium with some old mates, there it was: we were free. We could mess about.”
In the same interview, Plant reminisced fondly about Led Zepellin material such as ‘For Your Life’ and ‘Achilles Last Stand’, stating, “Fucking hell. Just extraordinary that three people and a singer can do that.”
However, despite his pride in their era-defining catalogue, Plant isn’t prepared to reunite with the group for a lucrative payday. While looking back on their last show, he said, “I suppose, to do it for the sake of it was never what Zeppelin was about. And the tribute to Ahmet, it came through. You know, without John, but it came through.”
Reflecting further on their iconic O2 Arena concert, Plant said, “The smell of fear on that stage was quite remarkable,” but conceded, “that’s how it should be if you’re taking risks”.
As it stands, there’s seemingly nothing in the world that would see Plant exchange performing with Saving Grace for a reunion with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page as Led Zeppelin. His upcoming US tour begins at the Capitol Theater in Wheeling, West Virginia, on October 30th.
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