Prince’s critique of Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page
Prince and Led Zeppelin played a sizeable role in the evolution of rock music, leaving the genre in a more advanced position than where they found it. While both acts are no longer with us, their breathtaking back catalogues continue to inspire the current generation of artists.
Although they were part of different generations and Prince didn’t rise to prominence until Led Zeppelin had parted ways following the death of John Bonham, he held them in high regard. The most alluring aspect of their artistry to the late Minnesota artist was their ability to diversify their sound and adapt with each album.
Similarly to Prince, Led Zeppelin refused to make the same song a million times over and instead opted to take risks at every juncture. In the cases of both acts, their adventurous methods paid dividends more often than not, helping them climb to the top of the pile and proving themselves as imitable forces within the music industry.
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has disclosed his love of Prince on multiple occasions over the years and even admitted to being “intimidated” by the pocket-sized rocker. During a televised interview in 1990, the vocalist explained: “I’m not really intimidated by too many people. But I’m very impressed by people,” he said. “Prince is probably the most impressive single person. Because he is incredibly inventive, but he is using a lot of old… He’s coming from all sorts of areas from the past.”
Plant continued: “He is really, he is pushing them all through a blender. So they come out oozing and tripping with honey, sex. It’s not at all sexist but sexual. I don’t know whether I’d like to work with him because he is so powerful that he’d probably intimidate me a bit – I don’t know.”
Although a collaboration never took place, Prince covered ‘Whole Lotta Love’ on more than 50 occasions during his shows, suggesting he’d have been receptive to the prospect of working with Plant. Additionally, after his 1985 album Around the World in a Day was labelled “psychedelic”, he took it as a compliment before naming Led Zeppelin as an example of an act who constantly expanded their musical horizons.
“I don’t mind that because that was the only period in recent history that delivered songs and colours. Led Zeppelin, for example, would make you feel differently on each song,” Prince stated.
However, decades later, he took a backhanded swipe at their guitarist Jimmy Page and explained why drummer John Bonham was the crucial ingredient to this sound, rather than Page. His critique of the group was made during a playback event of his 2014 album Premium Electrum, attended by MOJO.
After the record was likened to Led Zeppelin, Prince retorted: “Jimmy Page was cool, but he couldn’t keep a sequence without John Bonham behind him. He went from one to four without stopping at two and three.”
Although his comments attempt to discredit Page’s excellence, there is truth in Bonham being the key element which successfully elevated Led Zeppelin above their peers. He was a drummer who consistently pulled off the inexplicable and operated in a league of his own, hence why they couldn’t continue following his death.
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