Jason Bonham

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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Plant's Grammy bump fuels 'Raising Sand' sales to No. 2

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are back in the spotlight again, now that their 2007 album has stolen the show at the Grammys.

Billboard reports that Raising Sand sold 77,000 copies last week, not only making it the week's "greatest gainer" but also bumping it to the No. 2 spot on the album chart. This ties the album's previous highest position, achieved when the album debuted on the charts upon its release in October 2007. Billboard says Raising Sand "has now sold 1.26 million to date."


Plant and Krauss were just interviewed for CNN too:


In case anybody hadn't yet heard Plant explain why he doesn't want to tour again with Led Zeppelin, CNN of course asked that question:

CNN: You gained a lot of fans with this project, but there are those Led Zeppelin diehards who've been holding their breath for a reunion tour -- especially since you reunited for the Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert at Wembley [Wrong, CNN! It was the O2 Arena] in 2007.

Plant: Well, we had a really good night, and we had great rehearsals, and it was very emotional -- and if you like, quite elevating. But it was the right thing to do to do it that way. There's no bandwagon. We've already been around the world, and did what we did when we were young men.

CNN: That sounds like a man who's looking forward, and not back.

Plant: Only last week, I was being grilled again by Alison to get into shape and get it right. And that's fantastic! I really want that. I don't want to go around, everybody thinking, "That's what he did." Because this is what I do, and every day, it should be more interesting.
That's a better explanation than his earlier admission that he was afraid of something.

But the media have also been attracted to the fact that Plant and Krauss were snubbed at the Brit music awards. They did not receive even a single nomination for a Brit, in sharp contrast to the reaction by the Recording Academy as evidenced by their wins in all five Grammy categories in which they were nominated.

Not only that, but a report by Reuters UK even ran the egregiously erroneous headline:

Robert Page blanked at BRITs

The singer's name appeared correctly as Robert Plant in the article, but the "Robert Page" headline (which has since been fixed) shows once again that, sometimes, people still clumsily confuse their Zeppelin members.

About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

Do you have a news tip to share with Steve? Do you have something you would like him to write about? Would you like to book him for a speaking engagement? He can be contacted by e-mail at Steve at LedZeppelinNews.com.

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