Robert Plant Turns Down £100m For Led Zeppelin World Tour

goo

From Achilles Last Stand website (http://www.led-zeppelin.org)

"Robert Plant has turned down an extra £100million fortune to take Led Zeppelin on a world tour.

The rock legend wants to concentrate on his new partnership with US country singer Alison Krauss... spelling the likely end of the famous band.

Led Zep fans had been longing for a tour announcement since last year - when the 1970s superstars reformed for a one-off show at London's O2 Arena.

Surviving members Plant, Robert Page and John Paul Jones were offered a guaranteed £100m each for a tour of North America and Europe after a million fans applied for O2 tickets.

But after extensive talks Led Zep - best known for the song Stairway To Heaven - decided against the moneymaking opportunity.

Guitarist Jimmy Page, 64, was keen to do the tour this year and was backed by bass player John Paul, 62.

But singer Plant, 59 - already worth an estimated £70million - wants to concentrate on his new success with US country singer Krauss. The pair's duet album Raising Sand went to No 2 in America and Britain and they are starting their own tour in April.

A band source said: "Despite the enormous offer, the decision did not come down to money. They always said they would do the one-off show and then see how they felt.

"Jimmy had enjoyed the concert in December enough to want to tour. He argued they still had something to offer. He likes the idea of another chapter in the band - the grown-up tour.

"John sided with Jimmy. He loved making music with the others again.

"But Robert wanted to leave last year's concert as their legacy. They had proved they could still do it and that was enough.

"He has other commitments and is happier looking forward to those. Robert put the mockers on the tour."

if I were Jimmy Page or JPJ, I would be persistent with ol' Percy over the next year. this thing with Alison Krauss isn't going to last forever. I always thought it would AT LEAST be fair for them to also do a single show in the US. there's always next year......

sponger

dang man that's like $200M.

Wilds

They should silently offer Krauss 20 Mill to quit music forever. (That is not a slight on her or her music as I don't know it, but just to get her away from Plant. Might change his mind?)

ScotInAmsterdam

I read the quotes on NME. Unnamed sources are always dodgy... Let Robert Plant get the Raising Sand(which is damn good) tour out of his system and then see what happens. Jimmy Page suggested there was a solo album ready to come out early 2007 and we've still seen nothing of it, so maybe he'll do that. The ongoing potential of a Led Zep tour will always remain alive following the O2 concert which can only be a good thing..

clarefromscotland

Well, I applaud him. Here's someone with enough musical integrity to turn down the lure of the nostalgia reunion tour purse and concentrate on doing something new. Bloody good for Percy. He's always been about going forward and concentrating on tomorrow, not yesterday. Even the way he's performed old Zep songs live in his solo shows has been different and new.

I've got to say I can't see the point of reunions, though. Sad money-hoovering exercises. Even though I was a huge Soundgarden fan in my time, I would hate to see the band reunite for a world tour - there's almost never any artistic point in trying to revive a corpse. Only money. I'd much rather see Cornell with his vibrant and brilliant new band reinvent the old stuff live in between playing us some new songs.

Zeppelin did their one-off show at the O2 which I'm sure will be pressed up as a DVD so we can all see it. Now I hope they all continue to have the sense to let the band rest with its dignity intact.

1STmammal2wearPants

i say have a fucking world tour and be gone with it.

reversedarwinism

clarefromscotland wrote:

Well, I applaud him. Here's someone with enough musical integrity to turn down the lure of the nostalgia reunion tour purse and concentrate on doing something new. Bloody good for Percy. He's always been about going forward and concentrating on tomorrow, not yesterday. Even the way he's performed old Zep songs live in his solo shows has been different and new.

I've got to say I can't see the point of reunions, though. Sad money-hoovering exercises. Even though I was a huge Soundgarden fan in my time, I would hate to see the band reunite for a world tour - there's almost never any artistic point in trying to revive a corpse. Only money. I'd much rather see Cornell with his vibrant and brilliant new band reinvent the old stuff live in between playing us some new songs.

Zeppelin did their one-off show at the O2 which I'm sure will be pressed up as a DVD so we can all see it. Now I hope they all continue to have the sense to let the band rest with its dignity intact.

OMG. I kept reading the similar thread yesterday, but couldn't post in complete sadness. We all know Plant is mental, but 200 fucking million fucking dollars - FUCK. The whole no Led Zep thing is sad enough, though I can deal with that since the tickets would likely be 500 dollars and I would get to see them anyway. But the idea that he would turn down 200 million dollars.... I bet Page and Jones aren't too fucking happy with him keeping them from their pay. Seriously a selfish move. And his family... sure he's supposedly worth 140 million, but 340 million is so much better for his family. If my grandad (74) got an offer to more than double his worth by doing something his heart wasn't exactly into, you better believe he'd be doing it, no question. I can't think of much I wouldn't do to get that money for my family. I mean don't let your pride or feeling override your better judgement. He fucking rocked that show, give us a tour Robert, do your fucking job.

And someone mentioned offering Krause money, I think thats a good idea. They can do their tour too, but for god's sake man...

clarefromscotland

reversedarwinism wrote:

OMG. I kept reading the similar thread yesterday, but couldn't post in complete sadness. We all know Plant is mental, but 200 fucking million fucking dollars - FUCK. The whole no Led Zep thing is sad enough, though I can deal with that since the tickets would likely be 500 dollars and I would get to see them anyway. But the idea that he would turn down 200 million dollars.... I bet Page and Jones aren't too fucking happy with him keeping them from their pay. Seriously a selfish move. And his family... sure he's supposedly worth 140 million, but 340 million is so much better for his family. If my grandad (74) got an offer to more than double his worth by doing something his heart wasn't exactly into, you better believe he'd be doing it, no question. I can't think of much I wouldn't do to get that money for my family. I mean don't let your pride or feeling override your better judgement. He fucking rocked that show, give us a tour Robert, do your fucking job.

So even if he was persuaded to take this job he plainly doesn't want.....um, you'd be happy to watch a show where you knew the frontman was only there for the cash? Not because he wanted to be, or because he believed in what he was doing?

And it has to be said that your grandad, unless he's the CEO of a multimillion dollar international corporation or something, is not in the same position as Robert Plant. Plant has a £70m personal fortune already, which is probably more than he or his children could ever want or spend, and the ridiculous sum of money he'd earn for this tour would mostly go in tax anyway. Nice for the government.....

muppet

reversedarwinism wrote:

OMG. I kept reading the similar thread yesterday, but couldn't post in complete sadness. We all know Plant is mental, but 200 fucking million fucking dollars - FUCK. The whole no Led Zep thing is sad enough, though I can deal with that since the tickets would likely be 500 dollars and I would get to see them anyway. But the idea that he would turn down 200 million dollars.... I bet Page and Jones aren't too fucking happy with him keeping them from their pay. Seriously a selfish move. And his family... sure he's supposedly worth 140 million, but 340 million is so much better for his family. If my grandad (74) got an offer to more than double his worth by doing something his heart wasn't exactly into, you better believe he'd be doing it, no question. I can't think of much I wouldn't do to get that money for my family. I mean don't let your pride or feeling override your better judgement. He fucking rocked that show, give us a tour Robert, do your fucking job.

And someone mentioned offering Krause money, I think thats a good idea. They can do their tour too, but for god's sake man...

Little thing called intergrity.

Seriously, if Page and Jones are upset then I'm sure they can wipe their tears with their dollar bills. A Led Zeppelin tour would be great, but there's no point in doing one for the money, if Plant had no proper motivation.

Led Zeppelin have ended - for now - on a massive high and I personally think Robert Plant's new project with Allison Klauss is a classic example of a rock star who ages with grace.

redrock

reversedarwinism wrote:

And his family... sure he's supposedly worth 140 million, but 340 million is so much better for his family. .

Why would so much more money be better for his family? They have jobs, they live well (well, I would think they wouldn't want for anything!). What difference would the extra £100million pounds make? How many homes, cars, planes, tropical islands, etc. can one have?

Though I would have loved to see Led Zep at the 02, would a whole tour just be 'one of those reunion tours' like The Police, Van Halen, etc.?


The O2 concert was for a reason, a tribute to a friend. Money, especially if not needed, is not a good enough reason for Led Zep get back together. Maybe they did have a good time for the one gig, but wouldn't reforming just be rehashing old stuff? If Plant doesn't feel it's right, then be it. Let him get on with his creative stuff and the music that is coming out of his heart at the moment.

reversedarwinism

clarefromscotland wrote:

So even if he was persuaded to take this job he plainly doesn't want.....um, you'd be happy to watch a show where you knew the frontman was only there for the cash? Not because he wanted to be, or because he believed in what he was doing?

And it has to be said that your grandad, unless he's the CEO of a multimillion dollar international corporation or something, is not in the same position as Robert Plant. Plant has a £70m personal fortune already, which is probably more than he or his children could ever want or spend, and the ridiculous sum of money he'd earn for this tour would mostly go in tax anyway. Nice for the government.....

First question: yep, as long as he performed I'd be happy.

Mostly go to tax - no. Don't know about UK taxes, but he wouldn't have to give most of it to tax in the US. With the assistance of an accoutant he would very well. More money is more money. Turning down 200 mil is insane. Turning it down for your co-workers is pretty bad. 140 mil is more than his family needs, but not going for the extra cash is just not smart. What if he has 50 great grand children or would like to adopt an African tribe or would like to end world hunger. C'mon one tour, be logical.

1STmammal2wearPants

redrock wrote:

Why would so much more money be better for his family? They have jobs, they live well (well, I would think they wouldn't want for anything!). What difference would the extra £100million pounds make? How many homes, cars, planes, tropical islands, etc. can one have?

Though I would have loved to see Led Zep at the 02, would a whole tour just be 'one of those reunion tours' like The Police, Van Halen, etc.?


The O2 concert was for a reason, a tribute to a friend. Money, especially if not needed, is not a good enough reason for Led Zep get back together. Maybe they did have a good time for the one gig, but wouldn't reforming just be rehashing old stuff? If Plant doesn't feel it's right, then be it. Let him get on with his creative stuff and the music that is coming out of his heart at the moment.

yeah yeah yeah , fuck that.

i want a tour!

muppet

reversedarwinism wrote:

First question: yep, as long as he performed I'd be happy.

Mostly go to tax - no. Don't know about UK taxes, but he wouldn't have to give most of it to tax in the US. With the assistance of an accoutant he would very well. More money is more money. Turning down 200 mil is insane. Turning it down for your co-workers is pretty bad. 140 mil is more than his family needs, but not going for the extra cash is just not smart. What if he has 50 great grand children or would like to adopt an African tribe or would like to end world hunger. C'mon one tour, be logical.

Yeah, Pearl Jam should have milked the shit out of Ten and whore it to death with albums that sounded the same and multi-million dollar videos

Wilds

Do it for the fans. When 1 Million people line up to see a one off show then perhaps it would be a nice gesture to give them back something.

They have made you madly rich. Throw us a bone.

Isn't that a good reason to give 6-8 months of your life?

bridgebound

My friend & I were just discussing this! Should we see Robert with Alison at the Greek in Berkeley on June 27th or wait for Led! Well, I guess this answers that!

Get_Right

Good for him.

If he doesnt want to sing for zep, then I dont want them to tour.
He has to want to be there or it wont be good.

1STmammal2wearPants

Get_Right wrote:

Good for him.

fuck that!


TOUR TOUR TOUR!!!!!!!

clarefromscotland

reversedarwinism wrote:

First question: yep, as long as he performed I'd be happy.

Mostly go to tax - no. Don't know about UK taxes, but he wouldn't have to give most of it to tax in the US. With the assistance of an accoutant he would very well. More money is more money. Turning down 200 mil is insane. Turning it down for your co-workers is pretty bad. 140 mil is more than his family needs, but not going for the extra cash is just not smart. What if he has 50 great grand children or would like to adopt an African tribe or would like to end world hunger. C'mon one tour, be logical.

And I thought Pearl Jam fans were anti-capitalist....

Why do I get the feeling that you're not entirely serious, though.

Get_Right

1STmammal2wearPants wrote:

fuck that!


TOUR TOUR TOUR!!!!!!!

have fun paying $400 a ticket to see a singer that really doesnt want to be there

I respect his decision-the legacy remains intact
unlike genesis or the police

1STmammal2wearPants

Get_Right wrote:

have fun paying $400 a ticket to see a singer that really doesnt want to be there

I respect his decision-the legacy remains intact
unlike genesis or the police

Until I hear it straight from the horse's mouth, I don't believe what I read in the gossip column.

Mikeo

You think its bad when people yell "PLAY LEASH" Just wait for the Rising Sand Tour. probably 50% of the people will be yelling for a Zep Tour.

Get_Right

1STmammal2wearPants wrote:

Until I hear it straight from the horse's mouth, I don't believe what I read in the gossip column.

agreed

i think the numbers are wrong, but I believe that plant nixed any tour