Robert Plant revealed why he refuses to reunite with Led Zeppelin in a new Esquire interview.
“You don’t even have to talk to me if all you want to know about is Led Zeppelin. 38 years ago, John Bonham passed away. That’s all I know. That’s it. That’s the story.
“You know, Led Zeppelin was an amazing, prolific fun factory for a period of time, but it was three amazing musicians and a singer living in the times. Those times. That’s not going to stop me doing what I’m doing now. So that’s a headline, or not a headline. It doesn’t matter to me.
“If I didn’t [say no to a Led Zeppelin reunion] I’d be a whore, and I’m never going to be that. I’m only a singer, and therefore I can get bored really quickly. And if I get bored really quickly, what am I doing nearly 70 years old being bored? No chance. So I move on all the time.
“‘Immigrant Song’ had nothing to do with ‘That’s the Way.’ ‘That’s the Way’ had nothing to do with ‘The Crunge.’ And that’s got nothing to do with ‘Heaven Knows’ or ‘The Way I Feel.'”
“Some of it has been an attempt at some kind of social commentary, and other stuff was a way to close the door to the dream factory. But I’ve still got a foot in that door, which is no small thing with the industry in the state it’s in, and I want to use that to play with words and sounds and to find exciting new ways to make music.
“The fact of that is, in the last 10 or 15 years, my work has been really well received. And it’s very nice to see, and it makes me feel a bit that I’m in the right place, at least for some people, even if other people just don’t know about it. I mean, it is basically about opening the blinds.
“Look, how many thousands of people are there in the airports that I travel through, who are amazed that they see me, yet have no idea of what I’m doing? Not a fucking clue. That’s how it goes, and I’m fine with that, especially since the emergency departments of the geriatric wards are filled with people like me, still hanging on, because there was something else before.”
