10 singers who have ripped off Robert Plant
If you’ve got a high, belting voice and are playing blues-based, riff-heavy rock music, then congratulations: you’re bound to rip off Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin at some point in your career. Channelling the British hard rock gods has gone from a hot-button debate to a point of pride over the years, with just about everyone trying their best to either confirm or deny that they’ve listened to Led Zeppelin II a few times too many.
There’s no doubt that Robert Plant immediately revolutionised the role of rock frontman when he burst onto the scene in the late 1960s. But Plant’s ultimate asset was his unmistakable voice, one that could shatter glass on tracks like ‘Immigrant Song’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’. His high tenor immediately stood out as something new and exciting in the world of rock music, and it didn’t take long for a host of imitators to pop out of the woodwork.
It’s not like Plant himself had much of a reason to gripe. Led Zeppelin are still some of the most notorious pinchers in the history of popular music. From borrowing elements of different compositions to straight-up stealing songs and not giving proper credit to the original writers, Zeppelin still has a nasty reputation as deceptive lifters. So if someone was ripping off Plant, it’s not like he has the moral high ground.
The thing about this list is that by and large, the singers who appear on it would eventually find their own signature sound. If you simply went about your business sounding like Robert Plant forever, you probably wouldn’t get very far in music. Instead, these singers almost all began their vocal journeys trying to sound like Plant before branching out into their own distinct identities.
Here are ten singers who, at one point or another, ripped off the iconic voice of Robert Plant.
10 singers who ripped off Robert Plant:
Geddy Lee – Rush
During their first decade of existence, Rush had to endure near-endless criticism over the tonal quality of Geddy Lee’s voice. At best, it was deemed too reminiscent of Plant. At worst, it was described as irritating and piercing.
Rush’s 1974 debut is their most egregious Zeppelin rip-off, and soon after, Lee would become more comfortable with lowering his range as the rest of the band found their singular prog-heavy sound. The Rush singer has never been shy about showing his admiration for Zeppelin, so it’s to be expected he would lift the odd piece of inspiration from time to time.
David Coverdale – Whitesnake
Robert Plant himself has usually stayed out of the discussion when it comes to singers imitating his vocal style, but a notable exception comes in the form of Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale. Plant was none too happy with what he saw as Coverdale deliberately ripping him off, derisively labelling the Whitesnake singer as “David Cover-version” in interviews.
It takes a lot to rattle Robert Plant, so considering his embittered feud with Coverdale, it is fair to assume that this time inspiration became near-plagiarisation. Listening to ‘Still of the Night’ below, it is hard not to hear the obvious comparison.
Ann Wilson – Heart
Heart graciously wears their Zeppelin love on their collective sleeves. From numerous covers to standing in for the band themselves at their Kennedy Center Honors, Heart were happy to take more than a few cues from Plant and Zeppelin.
Ann Wilson’s belting vocal tone is clearly indebted to Plant, and just like Plant, her range and flexibility allowed her to shine in multiple different genres, whether it was hard rock, folk, or synth-pop balladry. Plant’s vocals are so universally beloved that transcending any gender barrier was always a small leap to make.
Axl Rose – Guns N’ Roses
You can draw a direct line from Robert Plant’s cock-rock charisma to Axl Rose’s hair-metal machismo. Rose was a clear disciple of Plant’s persona, but he also took a few lessons on vocal technique from the singer as well.
Even some of Rose’s contemporaries noticed the similarities. “Axl’s a beginner,” Van Halen singer David Lee Roth said about Rose in 1988. “Axl’s starting out, and it’s really hard to tell potential early in the game. Axl imitates [Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert] Plant pretty good.” Whether it is the high-pitched banshee scream or the guttural bellow, Rose’s style is so obviously inspired by Plant that we’ll avoid making any botanical puns.
Sammy Hagar – Van Halen
Hey, speaking of Van Halen, David Lee Roth’s classic voice certainly has plenty of debt owed to Plant. But it’s actually the band’s second vocalist, Sammy Hagar, who channels Plant more sincerely. While Roth is the cartoon version of Plant, Hagar wholeheartedly embraced the tenor-voiced rock god qualities of Plant’s tone. Any time Hagar goes to the top of his range, it’s not hard to trace a line back to Plant.
The truth is, Plant’s unique tone of the 1970s was so influential that it was always likely that the decade following would see an emergence of copycat singers. Though punk and new wave may have rejected such a sirenic wail, the hair metal bands of the 1980s found their template and stuck pretty close to it.
Billy Squire – Billy Squire
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was impossible for Billy Squire to get away from the Led Zeppelin comparisons. Riff-heavy tracks like ‘Lonely is the Night’ and ‘The Stroke’ caused more than a few people to put two and two together.
Squire should have been getting credit for being Robert Plant and Jimmy Page all in one package, busting out killer vocal lines and massive riffs at the same time, but the detractors always seemed to be right around the corner. When one considers Led Zeppelin’s own light-fingered approach to music-making, it feels especially unfair.
Chris Cornell – Soundgarden
Led Zeppelin were not exactly revered in the upstart grunge world of Seattle, Washington. While artists like Kurt Cobain and Mark Lanegan clearly had a reverence for the band, the bravado and caterwauling that was essential to Plant’s persona were antithetical to what they wanted to do.
Chris Cornell didn’t seem to have those same hangups, channelling Plant’s piercing wail throughout most of his career with Soundgarden and even into other bands like Audioslave. Though the 1990s may have pushed trends towards a low mumble, Cornell leant on the blueprint of Plant to create a far more impressive range.
Andrew Stockdale – Wolfmother
Around the time Wolfmother were beginning to make a name for themselves in the early 2000s, the early discourse around ripping off Led Zeppelin was hitting its peak. Evidently, it wasn’t OK to be influenced by Plant – even sounding a bit like him was akin to committing a sin.
Stockdale weathered the storm and accusations of ripping off the Led Zeppelin frontman, but songs like ‘Woman’ show why he got caught up in the discourse in the first place. The truth is, enough time had passed that comparisons to both the band and singer barely carried any weight.
Jay Buchanan – Rival Sons
Taking the bluesy riff-heavy influence from Led Zeppelin went en vogue again in the 2000s and 2010s, with acts like The White Stripes, The Black Keys, and Royal Blood all taking notes from Jimmy Page. But it was Rival Sons who seemed to get the most direct comparisons, not least of all because singer Kay Buchanan seemed to come from the same voice school as Plant, just with a slightly lower-pitched vocal tone.
It is a genuine issue for most rock bands that some of the greatest of the genre were most present decades ago. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and plenty more did such a great job of making rock music that anyone who follows is bound to bite a little bit of their style.
Josh Kiszka – Greta Van Fleet
You knew it was going to be on here. The discourse around Greta Van Fleet has always been tied to Led Zeppelin, and Kiszka’s testicle-bursting vocal range is the main reason why. The band members themselves are more than tired of hearing about it, and if it’s the one thing keeping you from accepting Greta Van Fleet as their own unit, then that’s your problem. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Kiszka’s voice is just… uncanny.
Plant had his own say on the band: “He borrowed his voice from somebody I know very well, but what are you going to do? At least he’s got a bit of style because he’s said he based his whole style on Aerosmith”.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.