Revisit Jimmy Page and P. Diddy performing together on SNL
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has enjoyed an extensive career that has seen him work with various artists outside the hard-rock quartet. Whether this be the likes of Donovan and The Who when he was a young session musician in 1960s London or psychedelic pioneers The Yardbirds, the list of classics Page has to his name is nothing short of remarkable.
Perhaps the strangest convergence of Page’s career came in 1998 when he teamed up with rap hero P. Diddy to incorporate Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ into ‘Come with Me’ for the soundtrack of Godzilla. Although the song was a hit at the time of release, it is now widely derided, much like the film it contributed to.
Famously, Page involved himself in the song’s production and supplied additional guitar parts for the recording. “After we recorded the track, [Diddy] told me he wanted to put an orchestra on it,” Page recalled. “It turns out he overdubbed two orchestras on it to create this massive stereo effect”.
It was such an eye-opening experience for Page that he would change his unfavourable opinion of rap. He once said of rappers: “They steal your riffs and then shout at you”. However, after this moment, he would proclaim himself a changed man and later discuss his love for other contemporary acts such as The White Stripes and Korn.
Page also later admitted that he was inspired to accept the job because of his son James, a hip-hop-loving teenager at the time. “It was a real privilege working with him (Diddy),” the guitarist told the Independent in 2004. “He has incredible energy and a great imagination”.
The unlikely collaboration would also be a commercial success, becoming an international chart hit. It landed at number two in the United Kingdom and number four in the United States and even topped the charts in Iceland. As is the case with any commercial triumph, though, it garnered much criticism, which continues to this day.
“I like Jimmy Page and P. Diddy, but what they did to ‘Kashmir’ was a debacle. They are giants in their own way – and you can print this – but that was a fucking travesty”, Public Enemy’s Chuck D told Rolling Stone in 2012. “When I get involved with a classic, I knock the fucking ceiling out of it or I leave it the fuck alone”.
Despite Chuck D’s passionate opinion, he couldn’t stop the fleeting steam train that was Jimmy Page and Diddy. Their collaboration was of such gravity that they performed a bombastic version of ‘Come with Me’ at the home of American comedy, Saturday Night Live, on May 9th, 1998. Their performance came on the final episode of season 23, hosted by The X-Files star David Duchovny.
Highlights of the evening included Duchovny’s X-Files co-star, Nicholas Lea, making a cameo appearance, Paula Abdul featuring in the ‘Cheerleading Camp’ sketch, and John Goodman, Matt Lauer and Al Roker appearing in the ‘Mango’ sketch. It was also Jim Breuer’s final episode as a cast member.
Unsurprisingly, Page and Diddy stole the show that night, delivering one of the most iconic musical performances SNL has ever seen. Adding extra glamour to the occasion, they played a rearranged ‘Come with Me’ alongside a sprawling 40-piece orchestra.
“He kept changing the arrangement all through soundcheck and rehearsals,” Page commented about the SNL performance. “I thought, ‘He’s never going to remember all these changes. He’ll never get this right.'” However, just like in his opinion on rap, the Led Zeppelin man eventually changed his mind, adding: “But he was right on the nail every time. So you’ve got to give him his due for that.”
Listen to Jimmy Page and Diddy perform on SNL below.
