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One of the greatest twosomes in all of rock history, robert plante and jimmy page have made their band led zeppelin iconic in all ways. The smooth and captivating skills of mr.page and the raw wild charisma that poured from mr.plantes lips have cemented them as musical history makers. From their unique sound to the drama filled lives of these true rockstars, led zeppelin has always made headlines whether for their amazing live performances and chart topping songs, or just for their wild ways. Fast riffs, slow beats, it's always a surprise when it comes to led zeppelins music bio. The slow steady beat and electric vocals like the ones in their song kashmir, show the sheer talent and songwriting ability of a truly excellent band, and the power behind robert plantes voice in stairway to heaven is enough to bring a person to tears.They made the music as real as could be, so why wouldnt you want to see them? You'd be watching a crucial part of rock history unfold before your own eyes. What else could a music lover want? You Get The Sexiest and most Raw performance of a lifetime. Theres nothing more a girl could ask for.

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“There was an extraordinary amount of tension...” Inside Led Zeppelin’s final US tour

Led Zeppelin's record-breaking final run of shows coincided with trouble and tragedy

The fact that Led Zeppelin ’s mode of transport for their ’77 US tour was a refitted plane that included a bar, two bedrooms, a 30-foot couch and a Hammond organ tells you where the rock legends were at by this point: this was Led Zep at the height of superstar decadence. It’s no wonder that they had money to burn. In April that year, they’d set a new world record for the largest paid attendance at a single-artist performance when they drew 76,229 people to a concert at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, a show that grossed a massive $792,361 (also a new record). It had sold out in one day. They felt unstoppable. “I’m sure we all felt a little invincible on this tour,” Gary Carnes, head of the lighting crew, told Classic Rock ’s Steven Rosen. “By being associated with Led Zeppelin , it seemed impossible not to have a sense of power. I’m sure the band felt that way, and I know everyone on the crew had a feeling of invulnerability.”

But underneath all their material pow-wow and ticket sales, the band’s 11th and final jaunt across the States was fraught with problems. First of all, they’d had to postpone some of the dates after Robert Plant caught laryngitis a few shows in. After the second performance, in Chicago, Jimmy Page had fallen ill with what Calmes called the ”rockin’ pneumonia”. Manager Peter Grant, meanwhile, was still the band’s antagonistic rock but he himself was going through a marriage break-up.

“There was an extraordinary amount of tension at the start of that 77 tour,” Calmes recounted. “It just got off to a really negative start. It was definitely much darker than any Zeppelin tour ever before that time. Zeppelin still had their moments of greatness, but some of the shows were grinding and not very inspired.”

Jimmy Page ’s drinking was another issue. The guitarist was hitting it hard, and it was affecting his performances. “Quite often Robert would announce a song,” remembered Carnes, “and Jimmy would go: ‘Robert, how does that song go?’ And Robert would sort of turn around and hum it to him. And Jimmy would go: ‘Oh yeah, oh yeah, I got it, I got it.’ Or Robert would announce a song and Jimmy would go into the wrong song. The times when Jimmy couldn’t remember how a song went were very, very rare, but it did happen.”

The group all headed off in different directions after the arduous tour, but the worst was to come. Robert Plant had just arrived at his hotel in New Orleans when his wife rang to say that their son Karac was ill, soon calling again to say that he’d died. It was a tragedy that loomed over the band’s remaining years, a devastating end to a period that pushed Led Zeppelin to the brink.

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Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleagues Ted Kessler and Chris Catchpole. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more. Radiohead was only for eight minutes but he still counts it.

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40 Years Ago: Led Zeppelin Kick Off Their 1975 North American Tour

By January 1975, Led Zeppelin had firmly established themselves as the biggest rock band on the planet. Though they hadn’t garnered as much critical acclaim as their contemporaries in the Rolling Stones , their commercial success could not be denied. With the release of their sprawling double-LP ‘ Physical Graffiti ’ just around the corner, the time was ripe for Zeppelin to take things up a notch with a truly massive tour of North America.

In something of a break from the past, the group was determined this time around to turn their concerts into a grand spectacle. Whereas before the music demanded all of the attention, Zeppelin commissioned an elaborate light show replete with lasers to add a stunning visual component. In an even more jarring turn, they'd also invited a cadre of national media reporters to follow their movements and lob a few questions their way in the down hours, the goal being to rehabilitate their image as debauched marauding barbarians.

The 38-date tour formally kicked off on Jan. 18 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, MN. Things didn’t exactly get off to the best start. Just before the leaving for the States, Jimmy Page  broke his left ring finger when it got caught in a train door, leaving him without the use of the crucial digit. The first show, while much shorter than many anticipated, was well-received, but shortly thereafter disaster struck when Robert Plant came down with a savage flu. As soon as the singer began to shake off the effects of his illness, John Bonham was hit with a stomach problem.

The band soldiered on and managed to get through that first month or so of the tour, albeit with a string of less-than-stellar performances to their name. By the time March came around however, things clicked in. Plant and Bonham were healthy once again, and Page was finally able to utilize the full force of his left hand. Many consider the band’s collection of shows on the West Coast of this tour, especially up north in Vancouver and Seattle, to be amongst the best they ever played.

They wrapped up the North American leg on March 27 at the Forum in Inglewood, CA, at which time Plant wistfully discussed the tumultuous two-and-a-half months to Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone . “Looking back on it, this tour’s been a flash," he said. “Really fast. Very poetic, too. Lots of battles and conquests, backdropped by the din of the hordes. Aside from that fact that it’s been our most successful tour on every level. I just found myself having a great time all the way through.”

Afterwards, the band had their entire tour set-up shipped to London for an iconic five-night stand at Earl’s Court. Once those gigs had finished, the plan was to head back to America for a second leg. Unfortunately, Plant was seriously injured in a car accident on the Greek island of Rhodes which put to bed any thoughts of more touring. It would be another two years in fact until the band took the stage together for a full show.

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Led zeppelin’s 1977 tour of america.

Prohibited from touring for nearly two years due to Robert Plant’s physical rehabilitation and recovery, which led to the release of both Presence and The Song Remains the Same in 1976, Led Zeppelin embarked upon what at the time stood as the largest (in terms of financial success and attendance) tour ever undertaken in April of 1977. Segmented into three legs, the tour comprised 51 dates with 1.3 million attendees and ticket sales averaging a rate of 72,000 per day. Following a one-month postponement attributed to Plant contracting laryngitis, during which the band reportedly did not rehearse as all of the instruments had been shipped ahead in accordance with the original schedule, the four men reconvened officially at Dallas Memorial Stadium on April 1 for the most significant undertaking in the group’s history.

More so even than the “American Return” in 1975 that saw the band weather illness and injury after an eighteen month absence from touring, the 1977 North American Tour heralded a reassertion of the band’s dominance after considerable developments in popular music and the ascension of rock acts such as Aerosmith , Queen ,  Heart , ZZ Top , Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Swan Song signee Bad Company to stardom. Thoroughly documented and visually immortalized (due in no small part to Page’s white “poppy” suit), the tour remains one of the better-represented chapters in Led Zeppelin’s history thanks to the enormity of the concerts. The vast majority of shows 1 , accordingly, are available on unofficial formats and occasionally augmented by amateur footage. However, remarks and write-ups from individuals unfamiliar with any shows considered even mediocre in quality have marred the tour’s reputation 2 to such an extent that it is often dismissed before a single second of tape has been played. Not aided by the generally dry, dull soundboard recordings 3 that pale in comparison to the official release-caliber 1975 tapes or the cursory approach that overlooks worthy shows 4 , the tour seems to incur most of the denigration levelled at the band with little cause. Though this entry is by no means meant to be historically comprehensive or inclined to devote full evaluations to each show (as done graciously in Luis Rey’s Led Zeppelin Live: An Illustrated Exploration of Underground Tapes print releases and The Year of Led Zeppelin ), it presents an overview of the tour musically, and the shows discussed should convince anyone courting the idea of a slightly better informed (or revised) perspective of Led Zeppelin’s unscathed force.

Most glaring, however, is the reintegration of a full acoustic set (absent, outside of Earl’s Court, since 1972), which allows a seated reprieve for Plant and coaxes spirited contributions from all involved on “The Battle of Evermore”, “Going to California”, and “Black Country Woman/Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”; some of Page’s most beautifully constructed and well-executed solos from the tour can be found in these performances of “Stomp”. To his dismay, John Paul Jones receives the daunting obligation of fulfilling Sandy Denny’s role on “Evermore” but orients to the vocal demands over time. While not the musician’s favorite moment of the concerts, it does hark to Jones’ unprecedented visibility during the 1977 shows, which perhaps brings to fruition the collaborative, group aesthetic more readily than the multiple solo spots would suggest. Broadly, the acoustic set lends some necessary “light” to what is otherwise the most consistently heavy, unrelenting standard setlist in the band’s career. On less substantial but equally pleasant notes, the main riff of “Out on the Tiles” returns as the introduction to Bonham’s drum solo (rechristened “Over the Top”), while the never-before-attempted “Ten Years Gone” induces Page to bring out the brown Telecaster 5 affixed for twang purposes with a B-Bender (a pulley-based device attached to the guitar strap that allows the user to bend the B-string up a full tone by exerting pressure on the guitar’s body).

APRIL — Fully bearing out the group’s almost two-year absence from the stage, the first leg of the tour opens (on tape) with the rather bleak Oklahoma City run-through but improves, reaching inarguable heights at Cleveland (4/28) and Pontiac (4/30). As expected, the band takes several performances to warm completely to the very involving “Ten Years Gone” (ostensibly filling the poignant-themed spot of “The Rain Song”) and “Achilles Last Stand”, while the performances on the whole remain a bit loose even after the Chicago shows. Plant, though traumatized into a more cautious approach to wailing and still suffering leg pain, requires no motivation to embarrass his afflicted 1975 outings and exhibits such stability and control not heard since 1972. The band, meanwhile, provides enthralling versions of “The Battle of Evermore” and “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” from the outset; Plant shines on both, flaunting his reclaimed sustain and power. Page progresses considerably throughout April as he acclimates to the set list and the demands of performing three-hour shows four or five nights a week while refusing to consume solids and weighing-in at well below advisable human standards. His enthusiasm for electronic and discordant tones gradually settles in as a hallmark of his sound, directing his ambitions toward an attempt to translate his recent studio experimentation to the live setting. Naturally, the opening stretch does feature a performance of both artistic and photographic accomplishment in the last night at Chicago ( 4/10 ). Clad in “Stormtrooper” garb, Page atones for the stomach cramps that had necessitated a suspension 6 of the previous night’s effort after only “Ten Years Gone”, and the group treats the crowd to a phenomenal display of might. Regrettably consigned to a rough, occasionally distorted tape, the show still entertains on the whole. Incidentally, Page’s playing on April 9 is actually quite impressive even without considering the agony element.

Following the seldom-discussed, rather erratic pair of Cincinnati shows , the group settles into a more comfortable approach to the new material and begins to reclaim some of its improvisatory fervor. The hideously taped 4/23 Atlanta show represents the strongest overall effort, with riveting versions of the epics , cohesion, and consistency making it a standout in Led Zeppelin’s touring history. Even this is matched (if not eclipsed) in quick succession by the perennial fan favorite second Cleveland show and the Pontiac Silverdome summit , which tends to garner more attention for its elusive professionally-shot footage than its exhibition of musical supremacy. Plant pushes himself beyond any expectation in the latter show–his vocal command is remarkable throughout (see “The Battle of Evermore”). He looses two eviscerating screams during “Kashmir”, electronically harmonized sirens over “Trampled Under Foot”, and a painfully protracted final yell on “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” that outdoes even his spectacular work on the 4/27 rendition . For all that it may be Page, however, who provides the definitive performance on the night, surpassing all of his previous efforts on the tour and pulling out evocative phrases on each number. His playing on “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”, “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”, “No Quarter”, “Achilles Last Stand”, and “Stairway to Heaven” stands among his best on the tour, while he belies any health issues with almost studio-worthy clarity. In fact, the night’s “Achilles Last Stand” may rank as the song’s greatest live airing, with every aspect coalescing. Deservedly, the group coasts off into vacation in the aftermath, with the tour resuming on May 18 in Birmingham, Alabama for another oft-unheralded, all-time great.

MAY — The wanting acclaim for the Birmingham show, which features one of Plant’s most impressive performances since 1973 and a tremendous group effort, necessarily makes it the most underrated of the tour. Of only fair audio quality, the recording cannot compare to the Forum tapes, but it is certainly listenable without disturbance. Similar qualms detract from the standing of the superb 4/10 Chicago, Atlanta, Pontiac, 6/8 New York, and 6/22 L.A. shows, but the lack of notoriety proves particularly unjust in this instance. Page delivers scintillating, possibly year-best contributions to “In My Time of Dying”, a smoldering “ Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You “, and “ Stairway to Heaven “, while “No Quarter”, “Kashmir”, and “Rock and Roll” come across with even more vigor than usual. “Since” and “No Quarter” seem to excite Plant on this evening and elicit some of his finest work on the tour; that “No Quarter”, with only two verses, astounds should suggest uniqueness, and Plant’s final, excoriating scream alone should have cemented the show’s reputation. May 18 also marks the unveiling of John Paul Jones’ triple-neck acoustic guitar (giving access to six-string and twelve-string guitar and mandolin) affectionately dubbed “turkey” by Plant.

Settling in at Landover ‘s Capitol Centre for the second residency of the tour, the group delivers four shows, each of which has been released on soundboard format in recent years. Unusually uneven, especially given the Birmingham triumph only a week earlier, the first two shows vary severely in quality from song to song and lack distinction as performances (save the welcome addition of “ Dancing Days ” to the second night’s acoustic set). Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long for things to tighten up on the third night, which sees impeccable renditions of “Ten Years Gone” and “Achilles Last Stand” and one of Page’s most spirited variations on “Stairway to Heaven” from the tour. For all that, it is the fourth night (see “Notes”) which ultimately comes to rival the Atlanta, Cleveland (4/28), and Pontiac concerts for supremacy this far into the tour, sporting benchmark interpretations of “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “No Quarter”, and “Achilles Last Stand” as well as great takes on “In My Time of Dying” and “Ten Years Gone” and a customarily-riotous “ Rock and Roll ” extended for the sole purpose of allowing Plant to break himself. Fresh off the the Maryland finale and the “Rain or Shine” debacle in Tampa on June 3, the group actually finds itself in its best form yet heading to its favorite East Coast venue and the first “mythical” stretch of 1977.

JUNE — Often neglected in favor of its better-preserved Los Angeles counterpart, the six-night run at Madison Square Garden (June 7,8,10,11,13, and 14) more than compensates for the erratic Chicago and Landover stints with absolute highlights of the band’s touring career. The first night, released on soundboard, admittedly does not quite warrant inclusion in the company of the other five shows, fluctuating sharply in quality despite the band’s enthusiasm and the phenomenal “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, “ Ten Years Gone “, “No Quarter”, and “Going to California”. The following night swiftly dispels any concern, however, supplying a complete event with an insatiable opening run, a typically arresting “No Quarter”, one of the strongest “ Achilles Last Stand ” takes of the tour and, as Luis Rey can confirm, an appropriately “festive” “Rock and Roll”. Coupled with performances from Page and Plant to rival Pontiac and Birmingham, the second New York show can hold its own alongside any in the band’s history. The third night , granted the warmest recording of the bunch, outdoes it still and matches any show from the L.A. series for excellence individually and collectively and emotional depth. By this juncture, even the most inattentive listener can discern Page has worked his way into a stride that will persist for the rest of the leg, as he has reconciled his more abrasive inclinations with fluid, confident playing. A startling “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You” and “No Quarter” likely represent pinnacles of the tour thus far, and “ Kashmir “, more so perhaps than in any other concert between 1975 and 2007, comes across as truly “majestic”. Alongside the no-less-distinguished “Ten Years Gone” and “Stairway to Heaven”, the June 10 acoustic set delivers on the promise of each previous performance as a faithful display of the band’s dynamics and discipline. Distinctions also arise in the first 1977 performances of “ Heartbreaker ” and “Over the Hills and Far Away” (both absent since May 25, 1975), which earn impassioned work from Plant and maniacal yet clean runs from Page, whose playing throughout the show outdoes that of Pontiac for flawlessness. Plant, similarly, exceeds himself with absolute control and stunning clarity in his strongest overall showing since April 30 (or maybe even 1972). The band is as tight and heavy as ever in this show, blazing through each number without ever letting up.

June 19 marks Led Zeppelin’s first appearance out west since March 27, 1975 with one of the more unusual entries in the group’s touring career. Best known for Bonham’s uncharacteristically erratic and generally sluggish play and John Paul Jones’ back injury (dutifully lamented by Plant), the show nevertheless does not upset the groove established in New York and, buttressed by a terrific, full recording, suggests that Plant and Page gave no thought to  conserving strength for the impending L.A. run. Page retains all of his creativity here, building on the breakthroughs in New York, and Plant just continues to push himself, covering admirably for the addled Bonham. The high-spirited inclusion of Plant favorite “Mystery Train” during the acoustic set, featuring the singer in flawless, warm voice, does a nice job of elevating the performance as well.

Unscathed by the San Diego episode, Led Zeppelin sojourns toward yet another home away from home–the Los Angeles Forum–for six nights of lunacy in late June. Invariably praised as the culmination of the 1977 North American Tour (if not Led Zeppelin’s entire live career), the L.A. dates epitomize the group’s technical and artistic reformation and mark the most consistently spectacular events of 1977. Though varying slightly in quality and cohesiveness due (as always) in part to technical conditions, the stay lacks a weak entry and, graced in some instances by the legendary Mike Millard’s recording acumen, supplies listenable, entertaining odysseys. Fittingly, the run commences with the most renowned documents of Led Zeppelin in concert. Immortalized under the title of Listen to This Eddie , the June 21 opener merits its acclaim. A fully engaging, ardent effort, the show delivers contender after contender for the “best performance” of each respective song. “Over the Hills and Far Away”, “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”, “No Quarter”, “Kashmir”, “Achilles Last Stand”, “Stairway to Heaven”, and even “Rock and Roll” bear distinction. Penitent apparently for his difficulties in San Diego, Bonham gives arguably his scariest performance committed to tape; his contributions propel the songs almost distractingly so (see “The Song Remains the Same”), while at times it would not seem unreasonable to question whether the tape has been tampered with due to Bonham’s ridiculous speed, power, and range. Gifted the fourth and last shot at “Heartbreaker” on the year, possibly by request 7 , the Los Angeles debut transcends any expectation. Bookended by inestimably famous gigs, the June 22 show (discussed further in “Notes”) wants in recognition but not in quality and threatens to outshine the previous night in terms of aggression and emotional upheaval. Page’s playing is tighter than in the previous two shows but just as daring, and Bonham, meanwhile, has yet to let up and arguably matches the previous night’s showing.

The third night, afforded the same adoration as the Eddie show, has passed perhaps further into lore under the title of For Badgeholders Only. Another weighty undertaking in its own right, the performance sees the unprovoked guest appearance of Keith Moon during “Over the Top” and the encore. With an unimpeachable opening stretch–“Over the Hills and Far Away”, “ Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You “, and “Ten Years Gone” are nearly too perfect, while “No Quarter” regularly receives “best ever” honors–and particularly accomplished playing, the show nonetheless inspires favor more for its sound quality and historical import than consistency. A solid but unremarkable acoustic set provides the first indication of mere excellence, while communication and equipment failures mar “Kashmir” and “Trampled Under Foot”, respectively. The standout “Achilles Last Stand” livens things up quite a bit before a tender “Stairway to Heaven” closes things out perfectly. Most conspicuous however is the encore, which provides one of the least musically interesting renditions of “Rock and Roll” on record as Plant and Page were ostensibly (and understandably) more concerned with monitoring Moon’s whereabouts and attempts at involvement than pushing themselves.

As the fourth night commences, any doubt as to the band’s ability to sustain its pace quickly disappears. Blazing through the opening numbers, the group pulls off an implacable “In My Time of Dying” (treated to a stab at Little Richard’s “Rip It Up”) for the song’s final appearance until 2007. An extended “Trampled Under Foot”–the most adventurous of the year for Page and a precursor to the expansive 1980 versions –also distinguishes the show from the other masterful displays of the week. It is the only known performance of “ Communication Breakdown ” on the year that tends to steal attention, finishing the show with no semblance of rust or lack of ideas. Page flaunts the fruits of his winning streak, while Plant employs his harmonizing vocal effect nicely during the funk interlude (featuring the”It’s Your Thing” rhythm this time). Technical clarity abounds in the following performance as Page and the rhythm section turn in impeccable work and Plant does not falter for a second. Technically and creatively, the instrumentation here matches that of any of the 1971-75 marathon shows. “That’s All Right”, augmented by hints of “I Can’t Be Satisfied”, finds its only appearance in 1977 as the (now obligatory) exceptional moment from the acoustic set, and each song layers on the intensity. Just minutes later Page turns in a terrifically-executed, 1970-worthy “White Summer/Black Mountainside” and sends the band into yet another colossal “Kashmir. By now, the “Achilles Last Stand”/”Stairway to Heaven” conclusion would seem to have met its potential as a climax, and this show bears that out in full. Unrivalled, it could reasonably be claimed, in rock history as a set-closer, this pairing sees the group’s two greatest epics receive proper treatment night after night without ever dulling their impact. Jerry Lee Lewis’ “ It’ll Be Me ” earns a second, much cleaner airing as an encore (Mick Ralphs of Bad Company joined the band for it in Fort Worth on May 22) that exceeds even L.A. standards, with Page mustering a well structured, terse solo and Plant running the vocal spectrum with smooth sustain. This rarity adds yet another point of pride to what is, overall, the “most perfect” L.A. concert and one that ranks alongside any other show between 1968 and 1980. The last night at the Forum, aptly the final Led Zeppelin performance to clock-in at over three-and-a-half hours, overcomes any noticeable effects of consecutive marathons to thrillingly close out the group’s relationship with Los Angeles. Justly, the acoustic set nearly puts the rest of the proceedings to shame. A quick run at Muddy Waters’ “I Can’t Be Satisfied” fulfills the previous night’s promise, only to be surpassed as Page’s “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” solo segues into a lilting version of “ Dancing Days ” in which Plant sounds sufficiently boisterous and full-voiced to suggest he could have easily hit the high notes attempted back when the song regularly figured in the set list (as found on the 1972 electric rendition from How the West Was Won ). A summation of the band’s triumphant return to the live setting, the final Los Angeles concert braves well-earned weariness to close out the second leg of the 1977 tour and one of the more storied chapters in rock history.

JULY — After a three week holiday, the group resumes touring at Seattle’s Kingdome (inaugurated by Paul McCartney and Wings in a 1976 show that would later appear, excerpted, in the Rockshow concert film) on July 17 for a stirring exercise in inconsistency (see “Notes”). Dogged by Page’s intermittently detrimental “sleeping sickness” and Plant’s truly afflicted, cracking voice, the Kingdome performance edges on calamity on several occasions. Nevertheless, as is precedent even for Led Zeppelin’s least accomplished outings, the show generally entertains and even manages to spawn an undying  contender for the best rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” on record. Page’s exquisitely paced, rending phrases vindicate the concept of “improvisational composition” and nearly compensate for any earlier lapses. This would not be  the case three nights later. The ensuing show, imposed upon the unsuspecting audience at Arizona State University, represents the nadir for Plant and Page and (despite only being partially taped) unfortunately accounts for much of the derision levied upon the tour. Plant’s voice collapses completely here despite his comeback in the final moments of the Seattle show, and Page (further discouraged after being blasted by pyrotechnics) fares no better. Remarkably, though not a single chord that Page plays during “Achilles Last Stand” actually belongs in the song, he nails the solo and survives “Stairway to Heaven”–evidently just for the sake of outrage.

Well aware it would seem of the Tempe aberration, the group resolves to fight its way through ailment and rust for the opening date in Oakland . Part of the not-quite-annual “Day on the Green” concert series staged by Bill Graham, the Oakland afternoon spots have suffered undue criticism based in part on the principle of guilt by association with both the other July shows and non-musical developments. Though undoubtedly average at times, the shows represent a reclamation of vigor and some (musical) stability. Page infamously disorients himself at the beginning of the “Ten Years Gone” solo, providing a five-second flub that has managed to discredit an otherwise exceptional rendition; Plant may in fact contribute his finest delivery of the song here, and Page exhibits no such difficulties elsewhere. Indisputably strong versions of “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”, “ No Quarter “, “Trampled Under Foot”, and “Achilles Last Stand” provide emotionally arduous showcases for Page and feature commendable group interplay, while “Black Dog” is brought out one last time as an encore.

The July 24 appearance, solid as well and seeing less tentative work from Plant, garners its own noteworthy addition with another acoustic “Mystery Train”. Despite Page’s displeasure with backstage events, he puts in a decent account of himself, while Plant and Bonham excel on “ Kashmir ” and could have sustained interest just as a duo. A healthy visual record of the shows endures, readily identifiable from both the sunlit hordes subsuming the Oakland Coliseum and Plant’s iconic “Nurses Do it Better! ” t-shirt. Most intriguing though is the seventeen-minute audience footage  compiling moments from the pre-show anticipation in the stands (set to a nice selection of Cream material playing over the speakers) to the rapturous encore at dusk. Lean on actual band footage, the video compels mainly due to its engrossing (if not wholly flattering) representation of a crowd that for once amounts to more than just indiscernible blurs supposedly portraying 70,000 faces. One concertgoer laments the absence of “Dazed and Confused”, a common sentiment among fans throughout the tour especially given the release of  The Song Remains the Same less than a year prior, while the bootlegger captures a nose-bleed crowd that is wildly variant in appearance as well as fandom.

“As the Sun sets in the West” on July 24, 1977, so too does it on Led Zeppelin’s touring presence in North America. Peter Grant’s grand conception for “The Eighties, Part One” in fall 1980 would have represented yet another return for the group and its greatest triumph over physical and psychological adversity thus far, but the Live Aid, Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction reunions have provided the only performances on American soil in forty years. However misconstrued historically, the aborted forty-four date visit has outlasted all the misfortune set upon it and continues to engage listeners. Ideally, exposure to the recommended tapes should reclaim some faith and interest in the year’s work and, maybe, lend some justification to the (personal) belief that the finest moments of the 1977 North American Tour also happen to stand as the greatest, most affecting shows Led Zeppelin ever gave.

Standard Tour Set List:

“The Song Remains the Same”

“The Rover” (intro)/Sick Again”

“Nobody’s Fault But Mine”

“In My Time of Dying” (rotated with “Over the Hills and Far Away” after 6/10)

“Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”

“No Quarter” (often interpolating classical music and, occasionally, ELP’s “Nutrocker” 8 )

“Ten Years Gone”

“The Battle of Evermore” (featuring John Paul Jones and, rarely , John Bonham on second vocal)

“Going to California”

“Black Country Woman”

“Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”

“White Summer/Black Mountainside”

“Kashmir”

“Over the Top”

“Heartbreaker” (only played 6/10, 6/13, and 6/21; encore on 6/11)

“Guitar/Effects Solo”

“Achilles Last Stand”

“Stairway to Heaven”

“Whole Lotta Love” (abridged, beginning 5/22)

“Rock and Roll”

“Trampled Under Foot” (played following acoustic set after June 23)

“Communication Breakdown” (6/25)

“Black Dog” (4/13, 6/13, 7/23, and possibly 5/31)

“It’ll Be Me” (5/22 with Mick Ralphs and 6/26)

Acoustic Set Additions:

“Dancing Days” (5/26 and 6/27 during “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp”)

“That’s All Right” (6/26)

“I Can’t Be Satisfied” (6/27)

“Mystery Train” (6/19 and 7/24)

Audio recordings of any have kind have yet to surface for the April 1 (Dallas), April 12 (Bloomington), April 13 (St. Paul), April 15 (St. Louis), April 17 (Indianapolis), May 19 (Baton Rouge), and May 31 (Greensboro) appearances, though color footage from the last two circulates; as always, several shows (such as the Cincinnati dates) exist on incomplete recordings.

• Unjustly maligned in subsequent decades and forever accorded an air of ill repute due to events largely unrelated to the performances, the tour languishes under the cloud of tragedy given its cancellation in late July following the death of Plant’s son, Karac, back in England. The degree of disdain exuded toward the tour persists, in part, as a result of the staunchly held misconception that punk had effaced the band’s relevance, musical prowess, and popularity overnight in 1977 despite never attaining commercial viability in the U.S. and lacking significant recognition until years later. This attitude of course endured through the 1980s until the group’s endurance proved sufficiently aggravating, at which point even Led Zeppelin’s most fervent detractors (including Rolling Stone ) adopted backhanded praise and passivity as a form of spiritual resistance that continued the musical liberation movement. In the wake of Plant’s mourning and the band’s silence, however, those who had taken offense to the group’s existence since 1968, as well as the self-anointed Samaritans of punk, seized the opportunity to indulge in spiteful remarks with no fear of reprisal. Ignored almost institutionally in recent years, 1977-80 saw the rock and general press engage in unprecedented (even for discussion of Led Zeppelin) vitriol that flouted any notion of professional or moral constitution. That paid adults found it acceptable to publicly attribute the death of a child to karmic retribution or Page’s fondness for occult history transcended the inanity to which the band had been subjected since 1969 yet evidently did not warrant censure. Remarkably, these efforts only established a precedent later exploited following Bonham’s death and the band’s dissolution in blaming Page for any misfortune that befell the members and casting the group’s final years as some deserved collapse. Notably, New Musical Express declared Led Zeppelin “the worst group in the world” following the Knebworth concerts in August of 1979 and, earlier in the year, had referred to the group in preface as the “most reviled of the old superfart bands” in what to this day is considered one of the more tempered pieces of journalism from the era. Rolling Stone, despite the layoff, had no trouble reclaiming its former glory and under the headline of “Sad Zep” panned In Through the Out Door with a (somehow) factually flawed review that holds its own among the magazine’s prior exercises in vindictiveness. Rock criticism had, by the end of the decade, reached the verdict that not only did the members of Led Zeppelin have nothing to offer musically and had accomplished nothing in eleven years but no one on the face of the Earth could stomach the band’s existence. Incidentally, none of these publications got around to mentioning that the brown paper bag-cloaked album topped the charts in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, sold three million copies in the U.S. within one month, and was actually regarded as having “saved” a record market that had stalled with the declining popularity of disco and select appeal of punk. More vindicating, however, was the fact that Led Zeppelin’s entire catalogue–nine albums (eleven discs)–charted in the Billboard Top 200 at once, a feat that conceivably did little to mend relations.
• 5/30 remains by far the strongest performance captured on soundboard, with the renditions of “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You”, “No Quarter”, “Achilles Last Stand”, “Stairway to Heaven”, and “Rock and Roll” ranking among the best from the tour, while 5/28 and 5/22, the most recent unearthing, stand a satisfying second and third (in which ever order you prefer) ahead of the flawed but enjoyable (and at times unearthly) 4/27 Cleveland show to be forever known as Destroyer , with the Garden opener trailing slightly and the first two Landover shows vying for last. Fortune also happened to bestow upon fans fine documentation of two more of the tour’s least successful outings, with the impossibly inconsistent, video-sourced Seattle show and the truly unnecessary but (naturally) pristinely-preserved Houston misery. The reputedly-filmed May 21 Houston appearance (preceding Bad Company’s officially-released stop by two days) has inexplicably garnered devotees for its sound quality and Bonham’s inspired displays, but the show as a whole offers nothing memorable or particularly listenable aside from a sterling “Going to California” and a surprisingly convincing “Rock and Roll” redeemed after Page audibly trips over wires in the opening seconds. Seattle, alternatively, is almost impressive as an exercise in erraticism. For all the detractors, Plant is legitimately ailing–his voice breaks even during the stage banter and song introductions–while Page exacts retribution on bootleggers with several notable slip-ups among an otherwise decent performance. Miscommunication (or daring) results in an off-key solo during “Over the Hills and Far Away”, while “Achilles Last Stand” inherits a flare-up in the guitarist’s reported “sleeping sickness”. Contrarily, he turns out entertaining and technically solid solos during “Sick Again” and the note-perfect “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and meanders through a memorable, at times scintillating “No Quarter” (with a stinging “boogie woogie” solo) that happens to feature commensurately strong work from John Paul Jones. Jones, Bonham, and Plant subsequently wander through the longest recorded airing of “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” after Page breaks a string, while Bonham exceeds himself during his final drum solo with Led Zeppelin–a superb event fortunately immortalized on film. Despite Plant’s cracks, “Kashmir” manages to remain enjoyable, while the band pulls itself together for a harrowingly delicate “Stairway to Heaven” that supplies a contender for Page’s finest recorded solo on the piece. The mood carries over into the riotous “Whole Lotta Love”/”Rock and Roll” encore, with the band putting to shame any rival for sheer intensity and perseverance in the show’s closing moments. Led Zeppelin’s 1977 Seattle stop, though not technically found on soundboard, nonetheless represents a legitimately unique affair.
• Honors for the most misunderstood or unfairly criticized performances likely go to the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum “Day on the Green” shows that mark Led Zeppelin’s final U.S. appearances, the Louisville show, and the second night at the Los Angeles Forum, the last of which proves exceptional even for June. Largely derided for its subpar sound quality (not provided by Mike Millard) and placement between the unassailable  Listen to This Eddie and For Badgeholders Only shows, the second night in L.A. compares favorably with any other Led Zeppelin performance at the venue. Augmented by some incomplete yet engrossing footage , the show features ruthless work throughout, especially for “No Quarter”, “Achilles”, and “Stairway”, but reaches the greatest heights with Page’s tempestuous solo in “Over the Hills and Far Away” and likely the best, most outlandish performance of “ In My Time of Dying ” on record (those two songs being included in the same set list only this once on the tour).
• Page subsequently employed the B-Bender-outfitted Telecaster for live performances of “All My Love” and “Hot Dog” and continued to use the rig after his time with Led Zeppelin (most notably on the Chopin adaptation “Prelude” from the Death Wish II soundtrack and in concert with The Firm).
• Page wanders into “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You” without the band before composing himself, but by “Ten Years Gone” he suffers pain so severe that he resorts to sitting on Bonham’s drum riser (all the while playing, of course). After Plant’s announcement of a brief delay to accommodate this bout of “gastroenteritis”, Richard Cole informs the audience that Page cannot continue but implores the audience to hang onto their ticket stubs for a rescheduled, compensatory show (later slated for August 3). Ultimately attributed to food poisoning (likely not aided by a banana daiquiri-based diet), Page’s ailment is traditionally albeit speculatively blamed on drug and/or alcohol abuse. Plant gallantly addressed the insinuations from a local radio station, The Loop, that Page had been drinking an “alcohol substance all day” the following night, stating, “It’s fair to say that Mr. Page neither smokes, drinks, takes women or does anything like that, so we’d like an apology from The Loop tomorrow and another crate of the same alcohol, please”.
• A member of the crowd screams his request for “Heartbreaker” after nearly every song and, memorably, lets out an unsettling (audible over the other 19,000 people losing their minds) but appropriate shriek after Page assents. Presumably, his name is not Eddie as well.
• A thrashing interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker , the ELP arrangement was performed by the band on April 25 (Louisville), April 28 (Cleveland), May 22 (Fort Worth), and June 7 (New York); the last two are available on soundboard.

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• classic rock
• Led Zeppelin
• Robert Plant

Mystery Revealed: Robert Plant Has Created a Led Zeppelin Mashup

by Matt Friedlander May 11, 2024, 7:20 am

Official details have been revealed about the recently reported mysterious Led Zeppelin-related studio project on which Robert Plant was working.

Videos by American Songwriter

Plant has teamed up with producer Gavin Monaghan to create a track mashing up the Led Zeppelin classics “Whole Lotta Love” and “Kashmir” that will be played at the Wolverhampton Wolves soccer club’s home games as the teams walk onto the field before kickoff at Molineux Stadium.

[Buy Robert Plant Concert Tickets]

Plant is a lifelong fan of Wolverhampton, who are officially called the Wanderers and also are known as the Old Gold. In addition, he’s been a vice president of the club since 2009.

The new “Whole Lotta Love”/“Kashmir” mix will get its public premiere this Saturday, May 11, when Wolverhampton takes on Crystal Palace at Molineux Stadium. Plant will be in attendance for the track’s debut.

[RELATED: Robert Plant Rumored To Be Working on New Project Featuring Reimagined Versions of Led Zeppelin Songs]

Before Plant helped create the new mashup, Wolverhampton already had been playing “Kashmir” and other Led Zeppelin songs at matches for years.

Wolves Executive Thanks Plant for Creating the Track

“Having Robert as a member of the old gold pack is incredibly special,” said Wolves marketing executive Russell Jones in a statement. “[A]nd having now used ‘Kashmir’ for more than a year at Molineux, Robert was keen to help us move the sound on by mixing two of Led Zeppelin’s most iconic tracks.”

Jones added, “We’d like to thank both Robert and Gavin for their support and I hope that the new mix will get the stadium rocking ahead of the last game of the season.”

Watch a Behind-the-Scenes Clip of the Session

You can check out a video featuring footage of Plant and Monaghan working on the mix at the Wolves’ official YouTube channel and social media pages.

About Monaghan

The mix was created at Monaghan’s Magic Garden Studio in Wolverhampton. Monaghan twice won the Producer of the Year honor at the Birmingham Music Awards. His credits include working with Celine Dion and Grace Jones, as well as contributing music to the soundtracks of the TV series Peaky Blinders , the Twilight films, and Austin Powers .

Deleted Social Media Posts Initially Teased Info About the Track

News of Plant’s Led Zeppelin remix session was first teased in a series of now-deleted social media posts from Monaghan and his romantic partner and musical collaborator Antonella Gambotto-Burke, as well as from Magic Garden Studio engineer Liam Radburn.

Plant’s Upcoming Tour Plans

Meanwhile, Plant has a variety of upcoming 2024 tour dates on his schedule. First up, he’ll launch a U.S. headlining tour with acclaimed folk/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss that’s mapped out from June 6 to June 19.

Then, on June 21, Plant and Krauss will join Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour for a series of stateside performances running through July 7.

In late July, Plant will play a few U.K. shows with with his folk project Saving Grace. He then will team up with Krauss again for late-summer North American tour leg running from August 8 to September 21.

Plant and Saving Grave will hit the road once again in October for a series of show in Italy.

Tickets for Plant’s concerts are available now via various outlets, including StubHub .

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page Honors Steve Albini Following His Death, Talks Their “Strong Connection”

© 2024 American Songwriter

How Ann and Nancy Wilson Put the Pieces of Heart Back Together

By Angie Martoccio

Angie Martoccio

If you ask Ann Wilson what her favorite Led Zeppelin song is, she’ll answer right away: “The Rain Song.” And if you ask her what led to her first tour in five years with her sister Nancy, she’s just as honest.

“We just got really tired of not playing together, and we both wanted to do a Heart tour,” Ann, 73, tells me. “So then there is this question hanging in the air: Can Heart be Heart without Ann or can Heart be Heart without Nancy? It never could.”

It’s early April, and one of the greatest sibling duos in rock history is hunkered down in separate rooms at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, enjoying a break from their packed schedule. They’ve got TV and radio appearances booked with Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Clarkson, and Howard Stern, and just 10 days after we talk, they’ll launch that tour — a months-long, 85-date trek that would be ambitious for any band.

We’re sitting in her assistant’s hotel room with glasses of white wine, right by a window that hosts a stunning view of the city as the afternoon sunlight hits her face. With black clothing that matches her long, neat braids, she looks something like a rock & roll Wednesday Addams — forbidding, cool, and utterly sure of herself. Her exterior may seem tough, but her voice is deep and kind-hearted. Over time, I realize she’s comfortable talking about anything, from what it was like to become a rock star in her youth (“I had incredible ego issues in my twenties”) to her contempt for “flaccid” classic-rock acts that get stuck in place (“I want Heart to be making new stuff, a living entity until we die”). 

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As we talk now, Wetter is asleep across the hall. “Dean is still that Zen warrior,” she tells me. “He’s a meditator and a napper. Sometimes, you can’t tell the difference.” She and Nancy patched things up and toured in 2019, only to have the pandemic hit a few months later. Ann and her husband relocated to Florida, just outside of Jacksonville. By 2022, Nancy was on the road with an Ann-free incarnation of the group she dubbed Nancy Wilson ’s Heart, Ann was playing solo dates, and the future of Heart was once again in question.

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“It felt really strange to me, because it had been so many years since we worked with those original people from Seattle,” Ann says. “They have a whole different swing to them than some of the people from L.A. or New York that we played with after that. But it was good to make that connection again and go full-circle like that. I think those guys had mixed emotions. They always did, because Nancy and I always got all the attention in that band. But they got to be in the Rock Hall of Fame and get up onstage and play with Rush, for God’s sake.”

Heart was inducted by Chris Cornell , a fellow Seattle rock legend who’d known Ann since the Nineties. (She once recalled how the Soundgarden frontman came to her Halloween party circa 1994 dressed as his band’s new single, “Black Hole Sun.”) “Somehow it never occurred to us that Ann and Nancy Wilson were women, existing authentically in a world dominated by men,” Cornell told the crowd. “Heart, with two Joan of Arcs standing up front kicking total ass, backed by a surprisingly powerful and unique band, blasted down any sexist barriers in front of them.” 

With 85 tour dates ahead, I ask Ann how she’ll preserve her energy on the road. Recent videos of Heart performances show her sitting on a stool, which she tells me is due to knee-replacement surgery she had a few months ago. Then there’s the incredible voice she has to maintain — that iconic soprano made famous on everything from “Crazy on You” to “Alone.” She doesn’t drink tea, but she does take arnica to ease the swelling and inflammation of her throat. 

Before every show, she warms up for an hour, singing along to favorite tunes by Lucinda Williams, Judy Garland, or the Beatles. Lately, she’s been loving to warm up to Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy in its entirety. She doesn’t listen to a ton of contemporary music, but she cites Disturbed as a favorite, having sung with them on their recent track “ Don’t Tell Me .” 

She isn’t a morning person, so their promo schedule this week has been a challenge. “You’re looking at somebody who’s really not used to getting up before 10 or 11,” she says. She doesn’t have much time to explore New York on this visit, which is fine, considering she’s played here in recent years with her solo band, Tripsitter. But she does want to get some shopping done. She has her eye on a sleek Ferragamo handbag — black with a red interior — but it was sold out at Bergdorf Goodman.

Over on the couch, her assistant scrolls through her laptop to see if another New York department store has it in stock. Ann pushes a container of green grapes toward me. “Finish your wine,” she says. “Don’t be in a hurry.” 

LATER THAT DAY, Nancy is sitting in her publicist’s hotel room, wearing a black sweater with rhinestone smiley faces and lips. With sparkly, transparent eyeglasses and hot pink tips on the ends of her blonde hair, she looks like a radiant rock & roll fairy godmother. “It’s definitely aggressively cheerful,” she says, her lipstick also hot pink. “But I figure the more joy you can bring right now, the better.”

Nancy just turned 70 in March. Her own preparation for the tour included giving up “fun, bad party habits,” working out, and drinking less. “I didn’t want to go sober,” she says. “I never actually felt like an alcoholic. But in order to prepare for this huge, daunting task of a world tour from now until Christmas, I figured everything I can do to feel good is what I have to do now. So personal trainer, special diet — all the stuff that people of my age have to do to maintain your resilience and your strength. Just to be able to physically pull it off. Just to be able to get out there and do my rocker-cise!”

If there’s one thing Nancy loves, it’s new artists. She regularly listens to SiriusXMU, says she’s a super-fan of boygenius , and proudly identifies as a Swiftie. She reels off some other recent releases she’s been enjoying, like Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here (“It’s so psychedelic, almost Pink Floydian”), Kacey Musgraves’ Deeper Well (“She’s romantic and spiritual in her writing”), and Post Malone’s Austin — currently her favorite record to work out to. 

But Nancy also loves the classics, and she makes a point to defend her sister’s preference for the tried-and-true over newer music. “I don’t think Ann cares to pay a lot of attention because we were lucky enough to be born at the right time, to have these albums imprinted in our DNA from the minute we were that age,” she says. “I was just listening to Tumbleweed Connection [by Elton John]. I was the girl in high school with the headphones in my bed next to the record player, and I would just rotate that side with ‘My Father’s Gun.’ I would keep going down that riverboat over and over, with candles in the bedroom. The writing is amazing.” 

The setlist for the tour is nailed down, she tells me. They’ll play lots of Heart’s most beloved songs while throwing in some solo cuts (Ann’s “This Is Now,” Nancy’s Eddie Van Halen tribute “4 Edward”) and the new song “Roll the Dice,” written with their longtime friend and collaborator Sue Ennis. “There’s new songs springing up like mushrooms in the forest,” Nancy says. “But with the world tour in front of us, getting in the studio anytime real soon is impossible.” 

Choosing a backing band was a point of contention for the sisters. Ann wanted Tripsitter, while Nancy wanted her own solo band. (“We just haggled until I said, ‘It has to be my guys or else I won’t do it,’” Ann told me.) In the end, they settled on Ann’s band — guitarist Ryan Wariner, Paul Moak on guitar and keyboard, bassist Tony Lucido, and drummer Sean T. Lane — plus Nancy’s guitarist Ryan Waters, whom she met through musician Liv Warfield. “He’s my brother,” Nancy says. “One of the best guitar-player guys in my life.”

Both Ann and Nancy were in agreement about one aspect of the show: They will absolutely not play their 1990 hit “ All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You, ” written by Robert “Mutt” Lange. It’s a sappy saga about a woman who picks up a hitchhiker in the rain, only to sleep with him and have his child out of wedlock. It was banned in Ireland before becoming their biggest global hit, but Ann says it grossed her out even back then. Nancy is a bit softer: “It just never felt like a rock song.”

They’re much happier to cover “Going to California.” As I head out, I ask Nancy the same question I asked Ann earlier: What’s her favorite Led Zeppelin song? 

“If I had to be forced at gunpoint,” she says, “I’d probably have to go with ‘The Rain Song.’” 

Both sisters acknowledge that the Eighties were the toughest time for them — even if young Heart fans today might find those cheesy videos to be cool and vintage. “They didn’t have to live it,” Ann sighs. “Go in 100-degree heat in a shed, wearing a corset and a big mane of hair.” Nancy agrees: “When I think of those videos, I think of choking on hairspray and my feet hurting from dancing in stiletto boots for hours on end.” 

The band’s second Rolling Stone cover, published in May 1980 , hinted at what the decade had in store for them. Shot by Annie Leibovitz , it’s a close-up of the sisters laying together on the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi, decked out in vibrant makeup and big hair. “We were so psyched that she was coming to shoot us,” Nancy says. “Every photo was iconic and amazing. But it was the early stages of the cocaine Eighties coming in, and she was pretty fucked up and wanted to get salacious.”

Both Ann and Nancy recall Leibovitz cajoling Ann to take her top off. “We were both very buxom ladies — it runs in the family,” Nancy says with a laugh. “Ann’s always been a bohemian, and she’s like, ‘Well, hey, it’s for art.’ So she did it, but then she regretted it. It was tame by today’s standards. But at the time, our artistic integrity was on the line.” 

Nancy says the images in question were put in a safety deposit box that only Ann and Annie could open. “It’s not a physical key,” Ann says. “Annie and I each have the legal ability to open the lockbox if we both want to. It’s just got Annie’s pictures of me topless in it, and that’s really all it is.” 

The following week, days away from the tour kickoff, I meet up with Ann and Nancy again on separate Zoom calls. They’re both in Greenville, South Carolina; this time, they’re in different hotels entirely. “[Nancy] wanted to stay someplace nicer, I guess,” says Ann. Thankfully, she was able to have that Ferragamo handbag shipped to her hotel.

I mention to Nancy that I know Greenville from Almost Famous , written and directed by her ex-husband Cameron Crowe, and scored by her. “That was the joke that I made sure got into the film,” she says. “There’s about a thousand Bear Creeks and a thousand Greenvilles. It’s like, ‘Which one are we in now?’” 

Nancy is on a high from Heart’s press appearances in New York, describing Kelly Clarkson as “the perfect American” and Stern as “a wonderful human.” Before our interview, she asked that I watch a clip from the latter interview, where Robin Quivers tears up while praising the band: “As a woman growing up loving rock & roll, just never having enough women expressing life through rock & roll … thank God you guys came along … It’s not said enough how much influence you have had.” 

“I was having trouble not tearing up myself, but that’s really the point of what it is we’re doing now,” Nancy says. “We were the original gangsters up there, and we’re still continuing the story of what women are capable of accomplishing.” The band’s legacy will be further cemented in an upcoming biopic that’s being written and directed by Carrie Brownstein; Ann says Florence Pugh has been considered to play her. 

Looking back on the 2016 incident that came between them, Ann wishes it was handled differently. “I would have gotten us all together in a room that night after the event, and tried to talk it out as a family, rather than the police being called and Dean being hauled off to jail,” she says. “When he sees kids jumping around, acting like fools and letting dogs out into an active highway, he spanks them. That’s just the way he is.” 

Nearly a decade after that night, though, the Wilson sisters have managed to move on from what happened (if not quite forget about it). By doing so, they’ve accomplished something that Hall & Oates , Simon & Garfunkel, the Everly Brothers, and many other great rock duos through the years haven’t been able to pull off: putting aside their differences for the good of the band, and honoring the bond that they share.

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“When we’re together, it’s the eye of the hurricane — the calm center around which all the drama swirls,” Nancy adds. “We’ve always been soulmates. I’ve always loved her, understood her, sometimes maybe more than she understands herself. But at the same time, she knows me like nobody else. It’s that thing when you’re on a stage with your sister in a big rock show.”

She laughs as she tries to explain what she means. “It’s almost like being in Pepperland or Fantasia. You’re in this fantasyland. The music and the lights and the experience is so otherworldly and magical — and you’re creating it together. That’s what we’ve always done, and we’re back here doing it again.”

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See HEART Perform In Charlotte During 'Royal Flush' Spring 2024 Tour

The Greg Perry   YouTube channel has uploaded video of HEART 's May 11 concert at Spectrum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Check out the clips below.

In addition to HEART 's classic tracks, the setlist for the concert included some tracks from of Ann and Nancy Wilson 's solo albums.

The current members of HEART feature Nancy Wilson (rhythm, lead and acoustic guitar, backing and lead vocals), Ann Wilson (lead vocals and flute), Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar), Ryan Waters (guitars), Paul Moak (guitars, keyboards and backing vocals), Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals) and Sean Lane (drums and bike).

The setlist for the Charlotte concert was as follows, according to Setlist.fm :

01. Bebe Le Strange 02. Never 03. Love Alive 04. Little Queen 05. This Is Now (ANN WILSON & TRIPSITTER cover) 06. Straight On / Let's Dance 07. These Dreams 08. Crazy On You 09. Dog & Butterfly (acoustic) 10. Dreamboat Annie (acoustic) 11. Going To California (LED ZEPPELIN cover) (acoustic) 12. 4 Edward (Nancy Wilson song) 13. Mistral Wind 14. Alone / What About Love 15. Magic Man

16. The Ocean (LED ZEPPELIN cover) 17. Barracuda

Last December, HEART played its first three concerts in more than four years — in Highland, California, at Greater Palm Springs in Palm Desert, California, and in Seattle, Washington.

Prior to HEART 's December 27, 2023 show in Highland, the band's last performance took place in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"Royal Flush" features CHEAP TRICK as support on most of the North American leg, while SQUEEZE will open a handful of HEART 's summer European dates. HEART will also join DEF LEPPARD and JOURNEY for summer stadium shows in Cleveland, Toronto and Boston.

Since HEART 's formation in the early 1970s, the band has sold 35 million albums, including seven that made the Top 10, and notched 20 Top 40 singles. The band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.

In a recent interview with Billlboard , < Ann and Nancy Wilson said that they were hoping to work on new music in the near future.

"The thing that we really hope to achieve is to maybe write some more stuff together," Ann said. "We don't have plans for that right now. We don't really plan too far in the future; we're not calculating like that. We're just gonna do this tour and see what comes. But I think if a song comes out of a situation, it'll be a real good one, 'cause it'll be authentic. It's just a matter of me and Nancy getting our heads around that."

Nancy said that she has been going through some of the HEART demos and listening to unreleased material with an eye toward possibly reworking it for future release. "There's a couple unfinished things I'd like to finish off with Ann and [longtime collaborator] Sue [ Ennis ]," she said. "There's one really, really cool song called 'Sweet Deceiver' , but the words were never right, so we never recorded it properly. I think I might want to finish that song; I've been trying to think of new chorus lyrics ever since I heard the demo. I would love to write some new stuff, too.

"If we have a song or two that comes out of HEART , that would be really great. These days, it's kind of like one song at a time, but you can still do a whole album, which is cool. I love albums," she added. "When I can put on an album in its entirety, in the sequence it was intended, that's the best to me."

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