From their self-titled debut album -- created in a mere 36 hours -- lovers of rock music realized they were on to something big. In their first year alone, Zeppelin completed four US and UK concert tours each, before releasing their second album, Led Zeppelin II.
By the early seventies, they were well on their way towards becoming the biggest band in the world. The first years of that decade saw the release of a third self-titled album, an untitled album, Houses of the Holy in 1973, and Physical Graffiti in 1975. All sold in numbers large enough to make the group as big as, if not bigger than, The Beatles. They outsold the Rolling Stones by 1976, and began to be recognised as giants in concert.
As the Eighties loomed, however, the losses began to roll in. Plant lost his son in 1977, Page struggled with heroin abuse, and musical tastes changed. Finally, when drummer Bonham, at age 32, died of an alcohol overdose and asphyxiation in 1980, the Led Zeppelin sage came to a close.
In the picture: (from left to right) John Bonham, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones during a promo (1977).
Advertisement
