Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant Was Almost Replaced by This Rock Singer (So He Says)

For one brief moment in the late aughts, it seemed like a new Led Zeppelin was on the horizon. The lineup, of course, would be different. Jason Bonham, drummer of the late John Bonham, would join original members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Robert Plant, who refused to join the reunion effort, would be replaced by a famous rock singer used to fronting his own band.

…well, according to that “famous rock singer,” anyway. Other musicians close to the situation remembered a different outcome.

This Rock Singer Says He Almost Replaced Robert Plant

Led Zeppelin disbanded following the death of their drummer, John Bonham, in 1980. The band reunited for irregular one-off performances, including a 2007 concert with Bonham’s son, Jason Bonham, that prompted the other original members to consider returning to the road the following year. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were willing to try; Robert Plant was not.

Thus, the rest of the band started searching for a replacement vocalist. According to Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Page invited the “Walk This Way” singer to jam in London. “I went over and played with Jimmy and the rest of them [in the summer of 2008],” Tyler told Classic Rock. “It wasn’t an audition to be in Zeppelin; it was an audition to play with Zeppelin.”

“We were gonna do a couple of stadiums,” Tyler continued. “While I was there, Jimmy spoke to me about maybe doing an album. I went home and thought about it for a couple days, and I got back to him and said, ‘Look, Jimmy, you’re in an iconic band, and so am I. I can’t, in good faith, leave my band and be in your band.’ Was I gonna be in Jimmy’s band? No. But what an honor.”

Others Say The “Audition” Went The Other Way Around

On its own, the story of Steven Tyler almost replacing Robert Plant in a Led Zeppelin reunion seems like nothing more than a tantalizing bit of musical “what if?” After all, both singers are known for their impressive ranges, powerful stage presence, and rock ‘n’ roll attitudes. It wouldn’t take much imagination to imagine Tyler singing Plant’s tunes—or vice versa, for that matter.

However, the story doesn’t appear to be as cut-and-dry as Tyler’s Classic Rock interview suggests. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry had an entirely different recollection of the events in 2008. For starters, he had no idea that Tyler was even traveling to the U.K. to play with Led Zeppelin. “Steven disappeared, and I called around,” Perry recalled in a The Pulse of Radio interview (via The Guardian). “Somebody said he was in London.”

According to Perry, Tyler’s jam session was “shambolic” and full of lyrical flubs on the Aerosmith singer’s part. Perry said, “Page felt really awkward about the audition, but ultimately, it was a group decision [not to hire Tyler].” However, Tyler doubled down on his story a year later, telling radio host Howard Stern, “I looked Jimmy in the eyes, and he said, ‘Wanna write a record with me?’ I said, ‘No.’ I have an allegiance to my band” (via Rolling Stone).

In the end, Led Zeppelin’s reunion never came to be, leaving the alleged non-audition audition in the opaque realm of “he said, he said” musical drama. Whatever grievances Steven Tyler and Joe Perry share with one another, they’ve managed to put them aside to continue their careers in Aerosmith—even after Tyler almost left to join Led Zeppelin (or didn’t).

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