“I didn’t really know”: The truth behind Robert Plant’s onstage posing

One of the things that was so exciting about Led Zeppelin was the fact that each member seemed to be the very best in their field. There were few bassists, drummers and guitarists that could go toe-to-toe with John Paul Jones, John Bonham and Jimmy Page. However, at the forefront of everything was the exciting vocal tone of their lead singer, Robert Plant, who never seemed to miss a beat.

When Jimmy Page initially put Led Zeppelin together, the plan was simple: be the most adventurous rock band of all time. This meant crossing boundaries that other bands had never thought about, for instance, incorporating a number of different styles and sounds into the band that overlap in the same song. Acoustic music, folk, blues, R&B, and rock are all bundled up and played by the same band. It was ambitious, but with the talent Page had on hand, it was doable.

Robert Plant had to be on hand to sing in a way that complemented whatever style Led Zeppelin were championing on a song. This meant having great range, as one minute he would be singing serene lyrics in a whispered tone, while the next he would be screaming at the top of his lungs.

One of the best examples of his talent is on their classic track ‘Stairway To Heaven’. While Plant eventually wound up despising the song, it is a good representation of how much range he needed when performing with Zeppelin. He started the song in a sombre way, easing us into the track, but the song ends with him screaming at the top of his lungs, delivering killer blows with every gritty line.

Since Led Zeppelin disbanded, Plant has continued to challenge himself vocally, but not in the way he used to with Led Zeppelin. He hasn’t continued with the raspy, heavy rock singing because that doesn’t appeal to him as much anymore. “I know that the full, open-throated falsetto that I was to concoct in 1968 carried me through until I was tired of it,” he said when discussing his former singing style, “Then that sort of exaggerated personality of vocal performance morphed and went somewhere else.”

With that singing style behind him, Robert Plant has no problem sharing secrets about how he performed in Led Zeppelin. It was one thing singing those high notes in a studio, but doing it night after night while on tour was a big strain. His nervousness about messing up on stage by putting too much pressure on his voice resulted in one of his iconic on-stage moves. Plant was famous for bending his back backwards and singing far away into the mic. A lot of people thought he did this because it looked cool, but Plant has since admitted he would do this to cover his back in case he messed up.

“I often did it like that because I didn’t really know whether I could hit the right peckin’ note!” Said Plant, “I’ll go as far away from the microphone just in case it’s not very good! […] Because you don’t know sometimes.”