Reports that Robert Plant has agreed to participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion are not true, the singer said today in an official statement.
Plant "has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years" following the conclusion of his tour with Alison Krauss on Oct. 5, the statement specifies.
Addressing the rumors that he would be somehow involved with Led Zeppelin, it says: "Robert Plant will not be touring or recording with Led Zeppelin. Anyone buying tickets online to any such event will be buying bogus tickets."
The Sun, a British tabloid, days ago published a story in which an unnamed source reveals Plant had agreed to tour with Led Zeppelin next year and, further, that the other musicians -- original Zep members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, with drummer Jason Bonham -- were ecstatic over Plant's decision.
That single report triggered a swath of articles in the media parroting the message, now debunked, that Plant and his onetime bandmates would soon be embarking on a tour as Led Zeppelin.
Plant says in the statement: "It's both frustrating and ridiculous for this story to continue to rear its head when all the musicians that surround the story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward."
What those individual projects are is unclear.
The Sun had earlier pegged Page, Jones and Bonham as collaborating together on new material and rehearsing with an American singer and perhaps even auditioning others.
Unlike the tabloid's later report about Plant, there may possibly be some truth in the report of the other musicians collaborating.
It was in August that Bonham first revealed in a radio interview that he had at least twice this year been jamming on new material with Page and Jones, although he did not mention whether or not any singers were involved.
At that time, Bonham announced he was leaving the band Foreigner, which is currently on tour with a new album due out next year. He said he wanted to have some time off to spend with his family before committing to any new projects that may require some time. He hinted that the jam sessions with Page and Jones would certainly result in something.
When the press took Bonham's comments to mean a new Led Zeppelin album was already being recorded or that a reunion tour was imminent, Page used an opportunity at an unrelated press conference to deny such assertions as overblown.
Jones is not known to have issued any public statements on the situation.
This weekend, London's Mirror reported that Bonham has put some of his property in England up for sale, which it somehow foolishly interpreted as a telltale indicator of a Led Zeppelin reunion.
Today's statement from the Plant camp concludes with one final thought from the singer: "I wish Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham nothing but success with any future projects."
So, the ball appears to be in the court of those musicians as to what individual, or perhaps collective, projects they will be moving forward on in the future.
As for Plant, evidently, we will not be seeing him on another tour until late 2010 at the earliest.
That doesn't necessarily mean, however, he would rule out any one-off onstage appearances. So, there's just enough ambiguity in his statement to keep hopes alive for anyone desperate to believe Plant could still take part in at least one more concert reuniting him with Page, Jones and Bonham -- such as they did last December in front of 20,000 fans at a concert paying tribute to the late Ahmet Ertegün.
But following a year of touring, Plant deserves at least a little break. A year ago this month, the Daily Express quoted Plant as preferring to sit back rather than embark on a Led Zeppelin tour.
"I know I’m getting on," he said at the time. "When I do come back from touring I'm shocked to find a lot of my mates tend to be going to bed far too early and that means I should probably be doing the same. Maybe I should stop having a good time and get old."
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