Imagine sitting in a meeting with one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time—Jimmy Page—pitching the idea of a Led Zeppelin biopic, only to get shut down in brutal fashion.
That’s exactly what happened when Warner Brothers tried to pitch their vision for a Led Zeppelin movie… but instead of capturing the musical genius behind Zeppelin, they wanted to turn it into a Mötley Crüe-style party flick.
And let’s just say… Jimmy Page wasn’t having it.
So, let’s rewind to a few years ago, when Warner Brothers came up with an idea for a Led Zeppelin biopic. With the success of films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, the studio saw a goldmine in telling Zeppelin’s story on the big screen.
But instead of focusing on the groundbreaking music, the timeless albums, and the epic concerts, their brilliant idea was to open the movie with a hotel lobby full of groupies.
According to Page, the studio’s plan was to open the film at the Continental Hyatt Hotel in Los Angeles, a notorious rock star hangout, and have the movie kick off with a scene of wild partying, women everywhere, and Zeppelin descending in an elevator to join in.
And that’s when Jimmy Page shut them down.
He revealed: “Yeah…Warner Brothers, who were trying to float this idea with an absolute idiot. We had a meeting, and he was saying, ‘Oh, well, it starts off at the Continental Hyatt Hotel. And it’s in the lobby and there’s lots of groupies and then you come down in the lift…’”
Page made it clear that this wasn’t the image of Led Zeppelin he wanted to show. He added: “Excuse me? What group is it you think are doing this? You’re not talking to Led Zeppelin? Is it Mötley Crüe? Or Quiet Riot? It was really insulting because I’m about what the music is about.”
The incident that was mentioned in Bob Spitz’s book ‘Led Zeppelin: The Biography,’ took place following a tour with Vanilla Fudge in Seattle. Richard Cole and Bruce Wayne, the road managers for the two bands, had caught some fish while fishing at the Edgewater Inn.
They brought the fish to John Paul Jones’ room while he was smoking pot with Carmine Appice and a 17-year-old groupie named Jackie. After Jackie had gotten high, Cole and Wayne told her to take off her clothes.
“Once she was naked, they started hitting her with the fish, and it left little teeth marks on her back,” says Appice in the book. “Things got pretty ugly, pretty intense, so we went out into the hall, where Bonzo [Led Zep drummer John Bonham] and his wife, Pat, joined us, and we watched the action through the door.”
