Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have released a live version of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.”
The song has become a set list staple for them over the last several years, though it’s the duo’s first official release since 2021. It features guitarist JD McPherson, drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Dennis Crouch, string player Stuart Duncan and multi-instrumentalist Viktor Krauss.
You can listen to the track below.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Musical History and Upcoming Plans
Plant and Krauss released their first album together, Raising Sand, in 2007, produced by T Bone Burnett. It received five Grammy Awards, including Album and Record of the Year. Their second album, also produced by Burnett, Raise the Roof, arrived in 2021, earning three Grammy nominations.
“I’ve learned a lot in my time around Alison and the world that comes with her, and it’s been a spectacle of charm, politeness and peach cobblers,” Plant said to USA Today earlier this month, just a few days before the duo launched a new North American tour, which will run until September. “I’ve been really fortunate because it was such a formative time in my life when Led Zeppelin came to a screeching halt and I had to keep moving and find a new place to do what I do and challenge myself. … This woman sitting next to me [Alison] is manna from heaven.”
Plant spoke specifically about how it has felt to reimagine Led Zeppelin classics like “When the Levee Breaks” with Krauss.
“I love them and am very proud of them, and to get to change them around and to hear that voice next to me, it allows for an exotic overview of the more dramatic elements,” he said. “At times I’m emotional about it because I’m hearing these songs – they are all beautiful adaptations that I could never have dreamt. It’s a great achievement.”
READ MORE: How Robert Plant’s ‘Heaven Knows’ Embraced Both Past and Present
“All of these songs, they turn into something else the longer you live with them,” Krauss added, “like I wish we would have recorded it this way or phrased it like that. When you sing the same song [live], the stories change.”
Plant and Krauss are also scheduled to play 10 shows this year alongside Willie Nelson as part of his Outlaw Festival. Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp will also perform on select dates.
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Crafting a solo career has been something of a quest for Led Zeppelin’s former frontman.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
