by Bob Spitz
First published 2021
Bob Spitz delivers an authoritative biography of Led Zeppelin, the band many consider the greatest rock group ever assembled. The Beatles biographer examines how four musicians created a sound that merged English folk traditions with African American blues, producing albums that sold over 300 million copies worldwide. Spitz explores the partnership between London sophisticates Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones with Midlands wild men Robert Plant and John Bonham during an era when the Beatles and Rolling Stones dominated popular music. The author treats their artistic development seriously while documenting how the band transformed rock culture, turning club performances into stadium spectacles and embodying the shift from sixties innocence to seventies excess. Drawing on his deep knowledge of the music industry, Spitz separates factual accounts from mythology surrounding this notoriously private band. His investigation reveals both astonishing achievements and disturbing behavior that defined their legend.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, music, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: biography, music-industry
Setting: England, London, Midlands
Period: 1960s, 1970s
688 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press