How did Led Zeppelin get their name?
Led Zeppelin is a band steeped in glorious rock legend.
Whether it was for the enormous sound which would go on to define a generation, or indeed for their equally captivating off-stage antics, Led Zeppelin has been mythologised for decades as one of the music world’s most influential groups. With such fandom comes a suitable size of legend, but with that said, one particular myth remains factual: how Led Zeppelin got their name.
In the 1960s everybody was obsessed with having ‘the’ in their band name. The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks… The list goes on. No band was brave enough to subvert the expectations of a band name on its head and do away with simple titling. That was until 1969 when Led Zeppelin came along.
Ultimately, it was always their music that cemented their legacy as one of the all-time greatest bands, but it certainly helped that they had an undeniably cool name to boot – it had all the swagger, drama and enigmatic energy appropriate for a band who were about to be a large force in rock and roll.
But despite it feeling naturally suited to the band and its four members, we have neither of them to thank for inventing it. The group were a by-product of Page’s intentions and they received their name in a similarly disjointed fashion.
As many Zep fans will know, the band came to be in a sort of paint-by-numbers fashion. Jimmy Page was already an experienced lead guitarist, filling session spots and working with the Yardbirds. Page had also worked with multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones in 1967, and they agreed to work on their next project together.
In August 1968, Page then invited Robert Plant and John Bonham to join his band, the New Yardbirds, for a September tour in Scandinavia. Led Zeppelin was beginning to take shape, in everything but name.
Who named Led Zeppelin?
It was later in the year, however, when the name Led Zeppelin would first appear. It would come from the mouth of a legendary drummer, but not John ‘Bonzo’ Bonham. It would actually come from The Who’s Keith Moon and his always twisted sense of humour.
The story goes that Page was keen on creating a new supergroup with Moon, Jeff Beck, and Moon’s bandmate in The Who, John Entwistle. The rhythm section of the group had grown tired of dealing with the “aggressive” Roger Daltrey, and with Pete Townshend also apparently keen to take on a new project, the idea to form one of the most powerful rock supergroups of all time was formed. However, it would never come to light.
In an interview, Robert Plant suggested that the supergroup didn’t quite happen because Page’s prospective bandmates were too old.” When, in truth, they were likely just too successful. Moon was only 23 years old as the New Yardbirds formed. But, whichever way you cut it, the growing stature of the supergroup was too much to actually get off the ground.
But it was the landing of the project that would inspire Moon to name it. The drummer remarked that the project would go down “like a lead balloon,” and the legend began to swirl. Not happy with the punitive power of a balloon, Page and the group went bigger and added a Zeppelin as the largest balloon of all.
Reflecting on the process, Jimmy Page later told Ultimate Guitar: “It was a name that Keith Moon had mentioned back then. He was talking, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to have a band called Led Zeppelin?’ And I asked him if we could use the name because I was gonna be in this band Led Zeppelin with Keith Moon, so was Jeff Beck.”
He added: “So when we were playing in Scandinavia, we were out there as New Yardbirds, it was a cloak of invisibility really. And even on the first recordings, it said ‘New Yardbirds’ on the box because I didn’t want anybody to know what the name of the band was until we really officially unveiled it. And [the first album] was it.”
But is that the full story?
Some fans will dispute this origin story; many people actually credit The Who’s bassist, John Entwistle, with coming up with the name. Others would suggest that it was actually Chris Dreja (formerly of the Yardbirds), who held back the New Yardbirds name and therefore encouraged the new name.
The truth seems to be that Moon was the chief architect of the name but happily gifted it to his friend Page, with perhaps some writing credits available for their bassists Entwistle. Whatever way you look at it, it’s one of the most ridiculous but brilliant rock band names ever.
There you have it. The most recognisable in rock came from one of the scene’s most legendary drummers. It was fitting, really.
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