The classic rock period saw many of the genre’s most prominent artists engage in competitive rivalry. One of the most notable was between Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones, both of whom had emerged as the biggest bands on the planet.
The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has always had great respect for his fellow guitar hero Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin’s band leader. However, over the years, Richards has been highly critical of the rest of the group. “The guy’s voice started to get on my nerves. I don’t know why; maybe he’s a little too acrobatic,” Richards told Rolling Stone about Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant’s voice in 1969.
“As a band, I felt aptly named, it never took off for me musically,” Richards said on his website in 2004. “At the same time, Jimmy Page is one of the best guitar players I’ve ever known. Bonham was a hell of a powerhouse drummer, although I think he’s kind of heavy-handed, myself — that’s when the ‘Led’ comes in.”
Richards’ partner in crime, Mick Jagger, seems to regard Led Zeppelin differently. While appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show in 2020, the vocalist recalled watching Jimmy Page and his band in action during their early days and was full of praise. “I remember watching their concerts live in New York and everything,” he said. “And it was great, thunderous, wonderful racket. Brilliant.”
It’s interesting that there’s such a dichotomy in the accounts of Richards and Jagger. During an interview with Details in 1988, Robert Plant discussed his group’s friction with The Rolling Stones, with his report in keeping with Richard’ and accepted that there was “there was some rivalry there”. However, Plant maintained that whilst the Stones had “all the publicity”, Led Zeppelin knew they were “doing the business”.
“It’s funny, we always used to moan because the Stones got all the publicity,” Plant said. “But the Stones have always had that. At the time, we used to sit back and go, ‘It’s terrible, really, but then again, is it important, really? Do we have to say how many records we broke? Is it important that the Daily Express, and The Times, and The Guardian all know this? Or would it be better if they didn’t know anything at all?’ We thought the press were a bunch of turkeys, and they were.”
Continuing his somewhat light-hearted account of the rivalry, Plant likened it to sport: “But the Stones always came out on top. I guess there was some rivalry there. Because we always knew we were doing the business, and they weren’t. We only thought it mattered half the time – when they were near us. Or when one of our roadies wanted to go to them because they had more cocaine than we had. Like a takeover bid.”
He concluded: “You know, it didn’t affect how you played. It didn’t affect the reaction on any given night. It’s just that the confrontations were always a bit twitchy. But everybody pretended it was okay. Something like young boys pretending they’re studs. Ten Paul Newmans in one room. It didn’t really matter, but it was good to wind up the situation for a bit of sport.”
