Biography of Robert Plant (England)

Robert Anthony Plant

 (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo career, sometimes collaborating with other artists such as Alison Krauss.

Plant was born and raised in the West Midlands area of England, where, after leaving grammar school, he briefly trained as a chartered accountant before leaving home at 16 years old to concentrate on singing with a series of local blues bands, including Band of Joy with John Bonham. In the 1990s, another reunion project called Page and Plant released two albums and earned a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1998 for "Most High".

Robert Anthony Plant was born on 20 August 1948, in the Black Country town of West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, to Robert C. Plant, a qualified civil engineer who worked in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and Annie Celia Plant (née Cain), a Romani woman.  He grew up in the Hayley Green area of Halesowen, Worcestershire.

Plant's early blues influences included Johnson, Bukka White, Skip James, Jerry Miller, and Sleepy John Estes. Plant had various jobs while pursuing his music career, one of which was working for the major British construction company Wimpey in Birmingham in 1967, laying tarmac on roads.

Plant enjoyed great success with Led Zeppelin throughout the 1970s and developed a compelling image as the charismatic rock-and-roll front man, similar to his contemporaries the Who's singer Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, and Jim Morrison of the Doors.

According to Classic Rock magazine, "once he had a couple of US tours under his belt, "Percy" Plant swiftly developed a staggering degree of bravado and swagger that irrefutably enhanced Led Zeppelin's rapidly burgeoning appeal."  In 1994, during his "Unledded" tour with Jimmy Page, Plant himself reflected tongue-in-cheek upon his Led Zeppelin showmanship:

I can't take my whole persona as a singer back then very seriously. It's not some great work of beauty and love to be a rock-and-roll singer.

mini bio :

Prior to Hobbstweedle (a pickup blues band formed to honour a gig at West Midlands College Of Education) Robert was the frontman for The Band of Joy - featuring Percy, John Bonham, Paul Lockey (bass), Chris Brown (keyboards) and Kevyn Gammond (guitar). The BOJ were on verge of making a record deal when they split a little acrinmoniously.

trivia : 

• His biggest influences were Elvis Presley and The Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison.
• Lives in Austin, TX.
• The youngest member of Led Zeppelin.
• Daughter Carmen Plant, sons Karac Plant (died of a virus) and Logan with wife Maureen Plant. Son Jesse with Maureen's sister Shirley Wilson.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of Led Zeppelin) in 1995.
• Lead singer and harmonica player of Led Zeppelin.
• In the song "Stairway to Heaven," he uses the phrase "stairway to heaven" three times.
• Was the only member of Led Zeppelin whose name did not begin with the letter "J".
• Ex-wife Maureen Plant is of East Indian descent and raised in England.
• Led Zeppelin was voted the 14th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.
• Attended the funeral in 2004 of DJ John Peel

Studio albums

• Pictures at Eleven (1982)
• The Principle of Moments (1983)
• Shaken 'n' Stirred (1985)
• Fate of Nations (1993)
• Mighty ReArranger (2005)
• Band of Joy (2010)
• Carry Fire (2017)

Compilation albums

• Sixty Six to Timbuktu (2003)
• Nine Lives (Box Set) (2006)
• Digging Deep: Subterranea (2020)

Live albums

• Sensational Space Shifters (Live in London July '12) (2012)