Robert Plant revealed he was working on new music but struggling to find lyrics that match what he wants to say about the world today.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, he said he was continuing to explore his personal archive for material to release after his death – and agreed that he’d probably performed Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven” for the last time.
“I’ve got a Tascam digital recorder, and I sing, and I put the vocals through a guitar pedal, and then I record them… and it sounds great,” Plant said. “Why bother to go to the studio?”
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He continued: “But I can’t find words. This is a very difficult time to try and wax lyrical out there.” Explaining why it was important to keep trying, he added: “The camaraderie, the things that you share up there, and the frailties that you know you’re carrying with you quietly, the exposure of yourself to yourself, is something that I would hate to say goodbye to. I can’t just sit back.”
The veteran singer, 75, reported that he was often asked about writing a memoir, but that continuing to move artistically was more important to him. “This is spectacular. Why think about it twice?” he said of living in the moment. “This is today. What happened in Schenectady in 1969 is another story. And for me, the continuum must keep going.”
Plant went on: “Today, I was pulling all my lyric books out and going, ‘Gotta get the groove back. I’ve got something to say.’ So yeah, I’m going to keep going — as long as they’ve got effects machines that make me sound good! Well, it worked for Elvis! Listen to the compression on his voice on some of those big ballads in ’57.”
Touching on his archive exploration, which he first mentioned in 2021, Plant said: “I’ve also been going through all that stuff that I never released and never quite got finished. And getting excited about it. Going, ‘Wow. What am I going to do with that?’
“It’s the idioms, the visitation; the places that I’ve been musically which were not complete are just mind-boggling, and they’re a little bit overwhelming.”
Robert Plant Will ‘Probably’ Never Sing ’Stairway’ Again
Last year he performed “Stairway” at a charity show, and it was later revealed he’d done it in return for a large donation to the charity. Asked about how he’d felt about singing the 1971 track for first time since Led Zeppelin’s final show in 2007, he replied: “It was cathartic.
“People go, ‘Oh, that’s good. He never was going to do that.’ But I didn’t really do it! I just blurted it out. ‘Cause it’s such an important song to me for where I was at the time and where I was with Jimmy and with John and Bonzo. So on that night, it was what it was. It was a trial by fire, but I felt better at the end than at the beginning.”
When it was suggested that he’d probably delivered the song for the final time, Plant said: “Yeah, I think you’re probably right…but I don’t know. Who knows? Something could change somewhere. Spirit and heart could come back in the soul. It’s a long song. Who can remember all those words?”
Plant just announced a summer tour with Alison Krauss.
Robert Plant Albums Ranked
Crafting a solo career has been something of a quest for Led Zeppelin’s former frontman.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
