Friday, January 9, 2009

Brit Music Scene

Brit Music Scene

Led Zeppelin Are Over? - Jimmy Page’s Manager Claims Reunion Has Ended

Posted: 08 Jan 2009 11:54 AM PST

Speculation over Led Zeppelin reuniting dominated proceedings here on Brit Music Scene in 2008. In fact, it was a pretty close run thing between Led Zep and Amy Winehouse over who got more coverage.

And here we are at the start of 2009 and there seems to be no change to that trend. This time, I’m reporting how Jimmy Page’s manager, Peter Mensch, has claimed that “Led Zeppelin are over!”

The last I heard about Led Zeppelin was that the whole group minus Robert Plant, who isn’t interested in any sort of reunion, were committed to reuniting for a full world tour. They were also discussing plans to write and record new material.

Obviously, without Robert Plant, there was a need to draft in a replacement singer, and many names seemed to be in the frame as possibilities. Including Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, Steve Tyler from Aerosmith, and Myles Kennedy from Alter Bridge.

Now, according to MusicRadar, the whole thing has been called off and the group are officially dead. The site reportedly phoned Mensch up for confirmation of what he had said in an interview with BBC 6Music.

But instead of detailing the new tour and material he had allegedly told the radio station was coming, Mensch dismissed the claims as bunkum.

He said:

“Led Zeppelin are over! If you didn’t see them in 2007, you missed them. It’s done. I can’t be any clearer than that.”

“They tried out a few singers, but no one worked out. That was it. The whole thing is completely over now. There are absolutely no plans for them to continue. Zero. Frankly, I wish everybody would stop talking about it.”

There’s really no arguing with that is there? It seems pretty clear that at least as far as Mensch is concerned, Led Zeppelin don’t have a future, with or without Robert Plant. But why no public statement to this end? And why the confusion over the interview?

The confusion seems to have stemmed from the fact that the interview occurred months ago, right at the time when it looked for all intents and purposes that Led Zeppelin would be reforming with a new singer and heading out on the road. Why the interview has only now been published and claimed as current is unclear.

As for why Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham haven’t gone public with the fact the reunion is off, your guess is as good as mine. It could be a face-saving exercise, with no-one wanting to admit that Plant’s decision not to be involved has irrevocably damaged the chances of success. Or it could be just that there’s still a small chance of it happening.

I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping the latter is true and that neither the reunion or the band are over, despite what Mensch may believe. Fingers crossed.

[Photo Source: From Newscom with permission]

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