Robert Plant has played a career-spanning set made up of a Led Zeppelin classic as well as some covers at NPR’s intimate ‘Tiny Desk’ – check it out below.
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The series sees artists come together in an intimate live setting to perform a select few tracks, with huge names – including Adele, Tyler, The Creator, Weezer, Turnstile, Taylor Swift, Pulp and more – having been involved over the years.
The musician was joined by bandmates Suzi Dian (on vocals and accordion), Matt Worley (guitar, banjo, cuatro), Tony Kelsey (guitar), Barney Morse-Brown (cello) and Oli Jefferson (drums).
“This is just like Live Aid,” Plant joked. “I couldn’t hear myself there either.” His five-song setlist blended folk songs and covers, including an emotive rendition of Low’s ‘Everybody’s Song’ and Moby Grape’s ‘It’s a Beautiful Day Today’.
Plant and Dian closed their set with ‘Gallows Pole’, which Plant sang on 1970’s ‘Led Zeppelin III’. Before taking on the track, Plant took a moment to pay homage to the American blues singer Lead Belly, who was his first introduction to the song.
“His memory has lived on in all of the music that I’ve ever been near and been touched by,” Plant said.
The ‘Tiny Desk’ gig comes ahead of Plant and Saving Grace gearing up to wrap their current leg of US concerts, with the final date scheduled for tomorrow (November 23) in Valley Center, California. Following that, they’ll head back to the UK or a run of shows that will run until December 23.
In other Robert Plant news, he singer joined up with Paul Weller earlier this year for ‘Clive’s Song’, which marked the fourth single from of the soloist and former Jam frontman’s covers album, ‘Find El Dorado’.
More recently, PETA reached out to Plant, and urged him to temporarily change his name to ‘Robert Plant Wool’. With November considered Plant Wool Month, the push for the name change was done in an effort raises more awareness for plant alternatives to sheep’s wool.
In a letter to the iconic rock singer, PETA notes that the short-term name change would make more people aware of plant-powered yarns, including those made from hemp, cotton, orange waste, and more. It also would help the push to have people turn away from animal wool and cashmere industries, which it criticises as environmentally-destructive and sometimes abusive.
