Some reporters, following up on rumors of a possible Led Zeppelin reunion in the works with Robert Plant being replaced, are saying they are being told that is not what is going to happen.
OK, now pay attention. What exactly are they being told is either not possible or hasn't been confirmed?
Jason Gregory, who has been pursuing Led Zeppelin reunion rumors for Gigwise, writes that he obtained such a statement when speaking on background with a source connected to American singer-guitarist Jack White. The source, said to have spoken on condition of anonymity, told Gregory, "I do not believe you can have a band called Led Zeppelin, singing Zeppelin songs, without Plant."
Gregory writes that the comment was designed by White's camp to distance the singer from speculation that he could be taking Plant's place in a reunited Led Zeppelin. That's one way of looking at it. Another way says that a band could be in the works that would not be called Led Zeppelin.
Anonymity was also invoked when MTV News reporter Chris Harris had an insider address the issue of a reunion, as he reports. Harris writes that "a source close to Led Zeppelin" denied press reports of a Led Zeppelin reunion with Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge on vocals instead of Plant. As quoted in the news item, the source tells Harris, "They are just rumors. Nothing has been confirmed at all. There's been no talk of a Zeppelin tour!"
Harris seems to interpret that as a denial of Kennedy's involvement in rehearsals with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham. The reporter seems to dismiss the idea of the Alter Bridge singer joining the members of Led Zeppelin based on it being such a remote possibility and utterly far-fetched.
Harris first doesn't realize that the insider who gave him that quote could have been more accurately identified as a source close to Page, a source close to Jones, a source close to Bonham, or whatever the case may be. Led Zeppelin isn't a working band per se, so its people are working with the individual people who were members of that band when it existed. R-r-right?
In the same way, the source's comment that there is "no talk of a Zeppelin tour" has the same ring to it as the statement from White's camp to Gigwise. A band could be forming with Kennedy or White on vocals, and that much of the rumor would be true. But the rumor can be dismissed as false because they're addressing the possibility of that resulting band being called Led Zeppelin.
Hmmmm. I'm seeing a pattern here. Ask about a band called Led Zeppelin with a singer other than Plant, and you get the answer that it's not going to happen.
Then what about the crux of the rumors, that Page, Jones and Bonham have been doing something together to bide the time while Plant was unavailable? Take your band called Led Zeppelin out of the equation, and you might be on to something!
Maybe these reporters ought to go back to their respective sources and ask the question over again but this time not attach the name Led Zeppelin to it. See if the answer changes!
Incidentally, Harris of MTV News also notes that "Kennedy is not available for a five-minute phone interview." He even tried to contact the people surrounding Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider, who last week was shown online explaining that Kennedy had been rehearsing with Page, Jones and Bonham and would be singing on tour with them if Plant did not want to. No call back from Snider's folks, Harris writes.
An interview with Plant and Alison Krauss aired this weekend on the CBS News program "Sunday Morning." It was recorded over a month ago, while the two were in New York on their tour, and it included Plant blowing off a question about whether he would reunite with Led Zeppelin.
When asked the question, Plant first jokingly attempted to change the subject by commenting on the look of interviewer Katie Couric. He then provided the answer that a Zeppelin reunion was so far from his mind while touring with Krauss that he didn't even have the time to ponder the idea.
Since then, Plant issued a statement in the tour's closing days that he would not participate in a Led Zeppelin reunion tour or any tour, or even record with Led Zeppelin, for the next two years.
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