Robert Plant revealed his admiration for rising-star band Greta Van Fleet, who have been described as potentially the next Led Zeppelin in multiple media outlets in recent years. In a wide-ranging interview with Louisville radio station 91.1WFKP, based on recent solo album Carry Fire, Plant discussed his current plans and future hopes – and once again veered away from Led Zep reunion talk. Listen to the interview below.

Asked by host Kyle Meredith about Greta Van Fleet, Plant said of frontman Josh Kiszka: “Is that the guy from Detroit? He’s pretty good. There’s a job somewhere for him.” He then took time to speculate on how Led Zeppelin came to be regarded as a rock 'n' roll band. “Rock 'n' roll kinda was Jerry Lee [Lewis] and Little Richard and Larry Williams and Fats Domino. You can’t call Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin rock 'n' roll… We weren’t rock 'n' roll – we were just a band that played some mean stuff, really, really powerful stuff, which was called rock.” He added: “From 1968 to now, it’s just making music.”

His career took a new turn when he started working with Alison Krauss and created the multi-award winning album Raising Sand in 2007, leading to the formation of a new Band of Joy with Patty Griffin two years later, and the release of their self-titled album in 2010.

“How fantastic was that for me? I can’t tell ya,” Plant said of his collaboration with Krauss. Saying she had been “very patient” as he learned new techniques, he explained: “I’m singing away and she’s harmonizing with me, and the next time we did it, I sing it a little bit different. And she says, ‘Now, wait a minute, if we’re going to sing together, you’ve got to sing the same thing every time,’ and I said, ‘Oh. I didn’t realize that.’ That’s why the Everley Brothers sounded good: because neither of them ever deviated from the part that they got.

“So she taught me slowly. It was touch and go many times … It was very funny how many times I got it wrong. Then to carry it on with Patty and the Band of Joy… Those two records are records that I shall be eternally, eternally amazed that I could ever even get my foot in the door to get into that sort of thing.”

Turning to future plans, he said: “I’d like to make another record with Patty, maybe, and Alison and I are talking about Raising Hell instead of Raising Sand. I’ve got a collection, loads and loads of songs, that could be fooled around with.” But despite 2018 marking Led Zeppelin’s 50th anniversary, he cautiously dismissed the prospect of recording with former bandmate Jimmy Page again. “I don’t know. I have no idea,” he said. “It’s not even within my countenance to imagine it really.” Acknowledging that the band were “dear to the hearts” of many, he continued: “Me too – nobody more than me. I don’t want to do it a disservice either.”

 

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