Led Zeppelin is back for one show.
After weeks of speculation by fans, a concert promoter announced Wednesday that the three surviving members — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — are set to play a concert in London on Nov. 26. Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, will fill in for his father on drums.
The show, at the O2 arena, will be a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records founder who died in December. The promoter, Harvey Goldsmith, said that the bill also includes Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman, Foreigner and Paolo Nutini, a 20-year-old Scottish heartthrob who was the last act Ertegun took under his wing.
“During the Zeppelin years, Ahmet Ertegun was a major foundation of solidarity and accord,” Plant said in a statement. “For us he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator.”
Zeppelin, which has sold well over 100 million albums in the United States alone, broke up in 1980 after Bonham’s death that year, but there have been periodic reunions and semi-reunions.
First there was Live Aid in 1985, with Phil Collins and Tony Thompson of Chic on drums. In 1988 the three surviving members recruited Jason Bonham to play at a 40th-anniversary show for Atlantic. Six years later Page and Plant played an “MTV Unplugged” session that turned into a tour and an album that included reworked Zeppelin songs.
Goldsmith said the Ertegun concert will be a one-time show, but he didn’t rule out other performances.
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Personals was compiled by Emily Rosenbaum from Tribune news services and staff reports.