page_title: Led Zeppelin
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Led Zeppelin / History / Post-breakup / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: English: Jimmy Page at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. December 2, 1983. Canon AE-1, 80-200 Toyo lens. 400 ASA.
context_page_description: Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group consisted of vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are regularly cited as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, although their style drew from a variety of influences, including blues and folk music.
  After changing their name from the New Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin signed a deal with Atlantic Records that afforded them considerable artistic freedom. Although the group were initially unpopular with critics, they achieved significant commercial success with eight studio albums released over ten years, from Led Zeppelin to In Through the Out Door. Their untitled fourth studio album, commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, and featuring the song "Stairway to Heaven", is among the most popular and influential works in rock music, and helped to secure the group's popularity.
  Page wrote most of Led Zeppelin's music, particularly early in their career, while Plant generally supplied the lyrics.
context_section_description: Following Zeppelin's dissolution, the first significant project for the members was the Honeydrippers, which Plant initially formed in 1981, and which released its only album in 1984. The group featured Page on lead guitar, along with studio musicians and friends of the pair, including Jeff Beck, Paul Shaffer, and Nile Rodgers. Plant focused on a different direction from Zeppelin, playing standards and in a more R&B style, highlighted by a cover of "Sea of Love" that peaked at number three on the Billboard chart in early 1985.
  Coda – a collection of Zeppelin outtakes and unused tracks – was issued in November 1982. It included two tracks from the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, one each from the Led Zeppelin III and Houses of the Holy sessions, and three from the In Through the Out Door sessions. It also featured a 1976 Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Page, called "Bonzo's Montreux".
  On 13 July 1985, Page, Plant, and Jones reunited for the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, playing a short set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins, and bassist Paul Martinez. Collins had contributed to Plant's first two solo albums while Martinez was a member of Plant's solo band.  The performance was marred by a lack of rehearsal with the two drummers, Page's struggles with an out-of-tune guitar, poorly functioning monitors, and Plant's hoarse voice. Page described the performance as "pretty shambolic", while Plant characterised it as an "atrocity".
  The three members reunited again on 14 May 1988, for the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son Jason on drums. The result was again disjointed: Plant and Page had argued immediately prior to taking the stage about whether to play "Stairway to Heaven", and Jones' keyboards were absent from the live television feed. Page described the performance as "one big disappointment" and Plant said "the gig was foul".
caption: Page performs at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California in 1983.
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