Hudson\u2019s dedication to the members of Led Zeppelin continued until her death, with the accountant eschewing a public profile and never giving media interviews about her work. Her decades of service to Led Zeppelin means she was likely the band\u2019s longest-serving employee.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Hudson remained a key conduit between the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin in recent years. She helped to bring the three men together to participate in the film \u201cBecoming Led Zeppelin\u201d which was released last year, with her recent work leading to her being thanked in the film\u2019s credits.<\/p>\n
The members of Led Zeppelin remained fond of Hudson, with Jimmy Page inviting her as his guest to the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012, resulting in her walking the event\u2019s red carpet with the band members. Her employees planned to present her with a photo of the occasion for her birthday years later.<\/p>\n
Born in Hackney, London in August 1938, Hudson was a lifelong resident of the area where she was born. She also chose to base her office, a diminutive, green-fronted building two doors down from a kebab shop in East London.<\/p>\n
Hudson \u201cwas the classic accountant, with twinset and pearls and a tight skirt and high heels. Very, very straight. Pretty clever. You couldn\u2019t get anything past her,\u201d Led Zeppelin office manager Unity Maclean said in Barney Hoskyns\u2019 2012 book \u201cTrampled Under Foot: The Power and Excess of Led Zeppelin\u201d.<\/p>\n
Originally intending to be an architectural accountant, 20-year-old Hudson returned from a week\u2019s holiday in 1958 to find her job had been given to someone else. Instead, her managers at the London accountancy firm Maw, Ellis & Warne introduced her to an 18-year-old emerging pop singer named Cliff Richard.<\/p>\n
Her ability to juggle the egos and convoluted finances of the entertainment industry soon led to Hudson running the first pop music accounting department. Her clients included The Shadows, Labi Siffre, U2, Chumbwumba and Bad Company but it was taking on the business of Led Zeppelin that transformed her small bookkeeping firm into the centre of a global business empire.<\/p>\n
Hudson\u2019s history with Led Zeppelin dates back to the earliest years of the band when she was personally poached by the group\u2019s manager Peter Grant to become Led Zeppelin\u2019s in-house accountant.<\/p>\n
Instead of persuading Hudson to jump ship using evidence of the fledgling band\u2019s careful finances, Grant instead handed the young accountant a box filled with press clippings praising the rock group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJoan was not the original accountant,\u201d Phil Carson said in Hoskyns\u2019 2012 book. \u201cThat was Peter Parker, who worked for the firm that Joan worked for. They decided they wanted Joan to work for them full-time, so they took her out of the firm and set her up in her own business. And she\u2019s been brilliant for them all of these years,\u201d Carson continued.<\/p>\n
Benji Lefevre agreed, saying in the same book: \u201cAs far as I am aware, they all trusted Joan absolutely. She was the legitimate face of Led Zeppelin. She had a very high, proper voice and they just loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Led Zeppelin\u2019s reliance on Hudson was so absolute that the band paid to fly her to the US on the newly launched Concorde plane in 1977 as the group embarked on its expansive tour. As the band played to tens of thousands of people in stadiums, Hudson diligently audited Led Zeppelin\u2019s accounts while on the road.<\/p>\n
Executives at Atlantic Records, Led Zeppelin\u2019s record label, also recognised Hudson\u2019s dedication. Her hands-on involvement in managing Led Zeppelin\u2019s business affairs likely saved both the band and its record label significant amounts of legal fees, building trust with both camps.<\/p>\n
When Led Zeppelin\u2019s contract with the label was due for renewal, label boss Ahmet Ertegun instructed his employees to give Hudson whatever terms she asked for. \u201cShe\u2019ll never ask for a penny more or a penny less than what they deserve,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n
While handling Led Zeppelin\u2019s sprawling tour expenses, which included everything from renting a Boeing 720 plane named The Starship to spontaneous purchases of instruments, Hudson remained a dedicated churchgoer in Hackney.<\/p>\n
She even held the position of church treasurer at St. John of Jerusalem Church in South Hackney, looking after the church\u2019s finances while also managing Led Zeppelin\u2019s excesses.<\/p>\n
It was while volunteering as the church\u2019s treasurer in 1977 that Hudson met her husband Doug Hiza. Hiza, a pastor visiting from Virginia who was researching a book on the Hospice movement, was an avid tennis fan and the ninth-seeded tennis player in the US.<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s first date in 1977 took place after Hiza asked Hudson if he could watch the Wimbledon tennis tournament on her colour television. The pair married in Minnesota in 1978, then living together in London where they were married for more than 45 years.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Doug-and-Joan-1024x685.jpeg\")
Doug Hiza (left) and Joan Hudson (right) attending a pre-release screening of \u2018Becoming Led Zeppelin\u2019 at Sony Pictures\u2019 London office on January 22, 2025 (Ian George)<\/p>\n
Hiza has been an ordained priest for more than 60 years, with the pair frequently attending church and charity events together. Hudson\u2019s dedication to her faith was a constant throughout her life. Even as her accountancy business boomed, she stepped in to save as many as five churches from bankruptcy by volunteering her time for free to manage their finances.<\/p>\n
Hudson and Hiza\u2019s tireless voluntary work led to them both receiving the Dean\u2019s Cross award from the Virginia Theological Seminary on January 6, 2017. Previous recipients of the award include former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former First Lady Barbara Bush.<\/p>\n
Hudson\u2019s retirement and the sale of her accountancy firm to SRLV in 2023 marked the end of an era for both Led Zeppelin\u2019s business and Hudson\u2019s staff, who were encouraged to take home whatever music memorabilia they wanted from the office.<\/p>\n
Even after her retirement, Hudson\u2019s involvement in the world of Led Zeppelin continued. After playing a key role in corralling the band members to participate in \u201cBecoming Led Zeppelin\u201d, Hudson and her husband Doug Hiza attended a pre-release screening of the film at Sony Pictures\u2019 London office on January 22, 2025.<\/p>\n
Hudson is known to have enjoyed the film and its retelling of Led Zeppelin\u2019s earliest years, events she knew intimately from her decades of quiet service to one of the world\u2019s largest rock bands.<\/p>\n
Follow Led Zeppelin News on Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a> to stay up to date on news as it happens. You can also sign up to our email<\/a> for a digest of the latest news sent to your inbox. LedZepNews uses paid Amazon referral links to earn commissions to cover its costs.\t