Led Zeppelin Reunion Tour 2012

I recently decided to pick up the remastered Complete Studio Recordings
and recommend the package highly if your old Zep vinyl/cassesttes/8 tracks are giving you some grief :) The sound quailty on these remastered CD's will really surprise you ... Jimmy Page has done a masterful job of retooling these classic albums here! I didn't have the money but wish I had grabbed the mini LP boxed set outlined in the next module down ... it's about double the price but a fantastic collectors item!

If you enjoy vintage Led Zep T-shirts and other Zeppelin memorabilia:




Here's pretty much the latest on the Led Zeppelin Reunion ... at this time Plant seems firm on not rejoining for a world tour and the rest of the band are considering replacement singers for a possible album of new material and a massive tour.

This article from Boston Music Spotlight sums it up nicely:

BMS Rumor Report: Led Zeppelin members to tour without Robert Plant?

Last December, the impossible happened: the remaining members of Led Zepelin reunited for one night only at London's O2 Arena. Since the gig in honor of Atlantic Records founder Ahment Ertegun, seemingly an endless amount of rumors have circulated speculating that the band would embark on a full worldwide reunion tour. Despite the gig's massive success, frontman Robert Plant was too busy and having too much fun supporting his collaborative release with Alison Krauss, Raising Sand, to reunite with his mates. Their tour lasted through this past fall but Plant denied he would reunite with guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer Jason Bonham (son of the late John Bonham), after it. But what about a tour without Plant at the helm?

Jones told BBC Radio last week that the band is indeed hoping to tour in support of a new album and is currently searching for a lead singer "We are trying out a couple of singers," Bonham said, "We want to do it. It's sounding great and we want to get on and get out there." He was quick to note that the band was looking for the right fit and did not want to replicate Plant or even the band's previous sound. "It's got to be right. There's no point in just finding another Robert." He continued, "You could get that out of a tribute band, but we don't want to be our own tribute band." However, Jones would not reveal who the band has been working with.

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Leading the way for rumored candidates to fill in for Plant is current Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy. Billboard recently reported that he was first in line for the gig. That report seems to validate the claim made by Twister Sister's Dee Snider a few weeks before hand. Snider, who share's the same manager as Plant, told Canadaian TV's MuchMore Music, "They're saying we're all rehearsed, we're ready to go. Here's a gazillion dollars on the table, if you don't do it, we're going out with this kid." He added that Kennedy can "sing the shit out of Zeppelin" before adding, "and they're like gonna hope that Robert at the last minute will go 'okay' and step in."
Other names that have been floating around include Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, ex Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar, and Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs.

In a recent Guitarist Brad Whitford of Aerosmith, appearance on the syndicated Todd n Tyler Radio Empire admitted that Tyler has indeed been in England with the Led Zep members. However, the move was just for pure fun and in his opinion, Page was "trying to light a fire under Robert." "I have not been approached so far to fill in for Robert Plant on the upcoming Zeppelin tour, but that isn't to say I won't be," Cornell told MTV News, before quipping, "But if you see anyone from Led Zeppelin around, let me know. I think I should actually fill in for Jimmy Page on the Robert Plant/ Alison Krauss tour."

Grohl was joined by Page and Jones at Foo Fighter's Wembley Stadium show in London this past summer, where they performed a couple of Zeppelin tunes during the band's encore. Hagar has formed a new supergroup, tentatively named "Chickenfoot", with guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, and Reh Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. As for White, sources close to the singer/guitarist denied the claims to the Daily Star newspaper in England.

Promoter Harvey Goldsmith, the mastermind behind their reunion show last year, recently weighed in with his opinion by calling a tour without Plant, "pointless." He went on to tell BBC news that he doubted the members would carry on with the Led Zeppelin name are argued that unless they had a "compelling reason to do it, then they shouldn't do it."

But to better understand these latest rumors, let's take a look back at what else has been talked about since the band played their one off gig. Here are just a few examples:

In January, Page was open to the idea but acknowledged nothing would happen till Plant completed his latest project. "The amount of work that we put into the 02, both for ourselves rehearsing and also for the staging of it, was probably what you'd put into a world tour anyway," Page told reporters in Japan. He continued, "We'd all agreed to take it very, very seriously and have a really good time at the same time. We worked out the songs we were going to play, and it was exhilarating, it was fantastic. Every week was a week to look forward to."

In May, David Coverdale, frontman of Whitesnake and good friend of the band, stoked up the rumor mill again with his own crazy assertion. He told the UK Mirror newspaper that a reunion was "very likely," and continued, "I'm expecting a call from Jimmy any day asking my band Whitesnake to support them on their world tour. Am I on board? You bet. Probably worth billions."

In August, Bonham told a Detroit radio station that he has been taking part in jam sessions and recording new music with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Prior to taking stage with his former bandmates in Foreigner, Bonham said, "I've been working with Jimmy and John Paul and trying to do ... some new material and some writing. I don't know what it will be, but it will be something. At the moment, all I know is I have the great pleasure to go and jam with the two guys and start work on some material. When I get there, I never ask any questions. If I get a phone call to go and play, I enjoy every moment of it."

By late September, just as his tour with Krauss was coming to an end, Plant had enough with the constant speculation. A statement was posted on his website indicating that he had no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years. "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," Robert Plant said. He continued, "I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects."
The above quote seems to pretty definitive on the idea of a full Zeppelin reunion, which brings us back to the latest rumor: Would Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham tour with another singer at the helm?

BMS Verdict: Possible. It would surely be dissapointing without Plant at the helm. That being said, as long as the band tours under a new name, we'd be okay with the idea since Riders on the Storm (featuring members of The Doors) have proved it can be done.