|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Robert Anthony Plant |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
Singer-songwriter |
| << Add Robert Plant To Your Favorites |
|
Full Robert Plant Biography
Robert Anthony Plant (born August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, West Midlands, England), is an English rock singer and songwriter, most famous for his membership in the rock band Led Zeppelin as the lead vocalist, but also for his successful solo career. He is known for his powerful style, often mystical lyrics, and wide vocal range. As the lead singer of Led Zeppelin he is often defined as the quintessential rock front man, combining rare musical adeptness and knowledge with a large measure of stage bravado and braggadocio. As a solo artist, following Led Zeppelin's break up after the death of John Bonham, he is often credited for his wide range of musical taste and his ability to perform an eclectic range of songs in a refined manner.
After the breakup of Led Zeppelin in 1980, Plant pursued a successful solo career beginning with his first solo album, Pictures at Eleven in 1982, followed by 1983's The Principle of Moments. Popular tracks from this period include "Big Log" (a Top 20 hit in 1983), "In the Mood (1984), "Little by Little" (1985), "Tall Cool One" (a #25 hit in 1988) and "I Believe" (1993), another song written for and dedicated to his late son, Karac. In 1984, Plant formed a short-lived all-star group with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck called The Honeydrippers, who had a #3 hit with a remake of the Phil Phillips' tune, "Sea of Love", along with a lesser hit with "Rockin' at Midnight." Plant avoided performing Led Zeppelin songs through much of this period.
On rare occasions, Plant performed with both surviving members of Led Zeppelin: In 1985 for Live Aid (with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson on drums), 1988 for Atlantic Records 40th anniversary, and in 1995 when the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the last two with Bonham's son Jason filling in on drums. Additionally, Plant, Jones, and Page attended—and later performed at Jason's wedding in 1990.
In 2002, with his then newly-formed band Strange Sensation, Plant released a widely acclaimed collection of mostly blues and folk remakes, Dreamland. Contrasting with this lush collection of often relatively obscure remakes, the second album with Strange Sensation Mighty Rearranger (2005), contains new, original songs. Both have received some of the most favorable reviews of Plant's solo career and four Grammy nominations, two in 2003 and two in 2006.
As a former member of Led Zeppelin, along with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, Plant received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Polar Music Prize in 2006. Plant still actively tours. His sets typically include recent, but not only, solo material and plenty of Led Zeppelin favorites, often with new and expanded arrangements. A DVD titled Soundstage: Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation, featuring his Soundstage performance (filmed at the Soundstage Studios in Chicago on September 16, 2005), was released in October 2006. An expansive box set of his solo work, Nine Lives, was released in November 2006, which expanded all of his albums with various b-sides, demos, and live cuts. It was accompanied by a DVD. All his solo works were re-released with these extra tracks individually. It was reported on Billboard's Website that Robert is contributing two tracks to the Fats Domino tribute album; "Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino". The performers list indicates that he will cover "It Keeps Rainin'" with the "Lil' Band O' Gold" and "Valley Of Tears" with "The Soweto Gospel Choir".
Plant's lyrics are often mystical, philosophical and spiritual, alluding to events in classical and Norse mythology, such as in the song "No Quarter" which refers to the god Thor, and the "Immigrant Song", which refers to Valhalla and Viking conquests. Another example is "The Rain Song", which contains allusions to various pagan rituals.
Undoubtedly one of Plant's most significant and influential achievements with Led Zeppelin was his contribution to the track "Stairway to Heaven", an epic rock ballad featured on Led Zeppelin IV that drew influence from folk, blues, Celtic traditional music and hard rock among other genres. Most of the lyrics of the song were written spontaneously by Plant in 1970 at Headley Grange. While never released as a single, the song has topped charts as the greatest song of all time on various polls around the world. Other fans however argue that Plant made a better performance in other Led Zeppelin epics such as "Kashmir" or "Achilles Last Stand".
Plant is also recognised for his lyrical improvisation in Led Zeppelin's live performances, often singing verses previously unheard on studio recordings. One of the most famous Led Zeppelin musical devices involves Plant's vocal mimicking of bandmate Jimmy Page's guitar effects. This can be heard in the songs "How Many More Times", "Dazed and Confused", "You Shook Me", "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Sick Again". He's also known for his light-hearted and humorous on-stage banter, often referred to as "plantations." |
|
|
| Add Robert Plant Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Robert Plant Review/Comment
|
HQ Robert Plant Pictures (1) | Random Robert Plant Picture
|
| << Back to the Robert Plant Homepage |
|
