The glory days of Led Zeppelin abruptly came to halt when drummer John Bonham passed away. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page then decided to disband and leave their Led Zeppelin days behind and go their separate ways. However it was more of a challenge for Plant to adapt to his solo venture, which ultimately turned into him seeking out his former bandmate Page for his next project.
So, Robert reached out to Jimmy and asked him to be a part of his ‘Now and Zen’ album. Page accepted his former bandmate’s offer and played on two tracks within the album that ended up becoming a three time platinum record. So when Plant was discussing working with Page again in a 1988 interview with noted guitar writer Tony Bacon, the rocker said:
“Well, to get Jimmy to come in and play on something, I mean, maybe we should work together quite a lot, soon, perhaps. I don’t know. But to get Jimmy to come into my world, rather than me go into his, and to bring his bits and pieces, it’s quite traumatic in a way.”
He added:
“Because we were so close at one time, absolutely musically inseparable. And now we’re miles apart, to ask him to step in and join me. I really like Jimmy’s work on ‘Heaven Knows’ on this album, I think it’s great. That’s so slinky, so much sex in that.”
Even though it was a ‘traumatic’ reunion since the two old friends had drifted further apart than they realized, in the end, Plant revealed to Creem Magazine in the late 80s that he missed having his partner in crime. He expressed why he wanted to work with Page again by saying:
“I just wanted some of that stagger. And, really, I just wanted my old partner around then. I wanted to see him hanging around with his head dangling on the floor. He was only in the control room of the studio playing, and everybody is saying, ‘God, can that man play.’”
So after their collaboration within ‘Now and Zen,’ it seems that Plant saw more for him and Page as a duo, which is why they formed their band, ‘Page and Plant.’ Even though their journey as a duo didn’t last long, they would occasionally get together to perform, like when they performed at an Ahmet Ertegun tribute concert in 2007.
