The definitive oral history of the iconic, bestselling rock band Led
Zeppelin
With Robert Plant on lead vocal and Jimmy Page on guitar, Led Zeppelin
is one of the most iconic, legendary, and influential rock bands in
musical history. Tales of their indulgence in sex, drugs, and excess
have swirled for decades. In this definitive oral history of the band,
Barney Hoskyns finally reveals the truth about Led Zeppelin, paring away
the myths and describing what life was really like for four young men on
top of the world, enjoying fame on a scale that not even the Beatles
experienced as a touring live act. Through fresh new interviews with the
surviving band members, close friends, their tour manager, and scores of
other fascinating characters, Hoskyns provides deep insights into the
personalities of the band members and chronicles the group's dramatic
rise, fall, and legacy.
- Based on more than 200 interviews with everyone from Robert Plant,
Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones to road manager Richard Cole, their
late manager Peter Grant, and many others central to the Zeppelin
story
- Features striking photos of the band both on and offstage, many
published here for the first time
- Takes a fresh look at Led Zeppelin's music, cultural significance, and
legend, as well as the highs and lows of the sex, drugs, and rock and
roll lifestyle on the road
- Analyzes the way the band wrote, arranged, and recorded, from how they
created the stupendous sound and dynamics on Dazed and Confused and
Whole Lotta Love to the group's folk-suffused acoustic side embodied
in songs like Friends and That's the Way
- Written by Barney Hoskyns, contributing editor at British Vogue who
is the author of the bestselling book Hotel California and the
co-founder of online music-journalism library Rock's Backpages
