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The Legendary Troll Kingdom
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Following weeks of intense speculation by fans and the news media, a concert promoter announced yesterday that the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — would play a concert in London on Nov. 26. Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham, who died in 1980, will fill in for his father on drums.
The show, at the O2 arena, will be a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records founder who died in December. The promoter, Harvey Goldsmith, said that the bill also includes Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman, Foreigner and Paolo Nutini, a 20-year-old Scottish heartthrob who was the last act Mr. Ertegun took under his wing.
“During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegun was a major foundation of solidarity and accord,” Mr. Plant said in a statement. “For us he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator.”
Led Zeppelin, which has sold well over 100 million albums in the United States alone, broke up in 1980 after Mr. Bonham’s death, but fans have become accustomed to periodic reunions and semi-reunions. First there was Live Aid in 1985, with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson of Chic on drums. In 1988 the three surviving members recruited Jason Bonham to play at a 40th-anniversary show for Atlantic. Six years later Mr. Page and Mr. Plant played an “MTV Unplugged” session that turned into a tour and an album that included reworked Led Zeppelin songs.
And while the concert will benefit an educational charity in Mr. Ertegun’s name, it also coincides with the release of two major Zeppelin reissues: “Mothership,” a two-disc hits set due Nov. 13, and an expanded version of “The Song Remains the Same,” the soundtrack to the band’s 1976 concert movie, to be released Nov. 20.
Mr. Goldsmith said that the Ertegun concert will be a one-time show, but didn’t rule out other performances. “If something materializes after that, I’ll be thrilled,” he told Reuters.
Craig Kallman, the Atlantic chairman, said Led Zeppelin transformed Atlantic from an R & B and pop label into a major force in rock. But the bond between Led Zeppelin and Mr. Ertegun was more than musical.
“They were great partiers, too,” Mr. Kallman said. “Ahmet was an incredible, consummate man about town, and they partied like the rock stars that Zeppelin were.”
