Trivia

Jack Black videotaped a plea to Led Zeppelin to use "Immigrant Song" in his movie School of Rock (2003) After receiving the message, the band gave him permission to use the song for his movie.

After the group broke up, Jimmy Page would perform "Stairway to Heaven" as an instrumental. He felt no one could do the song justice except Robert Plant.

The name "Led Zeppelin" stemmed from a humorous conversation among several musicians about the new band's chances of going down like a lead balloon.

Before their one-off reunion in 2007, they had never played "Ramble On" live.

The group was well-known for their reluctance to license their music. Two notable exceptions are the Cadillac television commercials featuring "Rock and Roll" and the appearance of "Immigrant Song" in School of Rock (2003).

They are the only rock band to have all of their albums, including re-releases and compilation albums, reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

The band name was originally "Lead Zeppelin", but they decided to change it to its now-familiar spelling so people wouldn't pronounce the first word "leed".

Their song "Misty Mountain Hop" is named after J.R.R. Tolkien's "Misty Mountains"; "Ramble On" refers to Gollum and Mordor and "The Battle of Evermore" is an allegory from the "Battle of the Pelennor Fields" from "The Return of the King".

"Dazed and Confused" was originally 6 minutes and 26 seconds on the band's first album. In concert, they would improvise and stretch the song from its original time to 7, 10, 20, and by 1975 it was stretched to 40 minutes. Sometmes the band would include parts of their other songs, like "Walter's Walk" and "The Crunge", and Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco".

When the band first played in Denmark, the Countess Zeppelin (relative of the designer of the famous dirigibles) angrily protested about their use of her family name. To defuse the situation, they played Danish shows under the name "The Knobs".

Queen modeled themselves to a large extent on Led Zeppelin at the beginning of their career. They would often play "The Immigrant Song" in sound checks. Lead singer Freddie Mercury called Zeppelin in an interview "the greatest heavy metal band that ever lived" and drummer Roger Taylor described John Bonham as "the greatest rock 'n' roll drummer of all time".

In "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All time, Jimmy Page was ranked at #3.

"Hey Hey What Can I Do" was the only song they recorded that was released solely as a single, and never appeared on one of their studio albums.

The tune "Stairway to Heaven" is reputed to be the most played song of all-time on radio, even though it was never officially released as a single.

VH1 named the group the #1 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock.

Jimmy Page's first choice as singer was Terry Reid, but he declined and recommended Robert Plant instead. Plant accepted and brought in John Bonham to be the drummer.

The band was formed under the name "The New Yardbirds". They were based on the original The Yardbirds rock band, which was the last band that Jimmy Page played in before joining Led Zeppelin. They were formed to finish performance commitments that The Yardbirds had booked in Scandinavia before the break-up of the original band.

"Dazed and Confused", "In the Light, In the Evening" and "How Many More Times" are the only Led Zeppelin songs in which lead guitarist Jimmy Page bows the guitar with a violin bow.

Reunited on December 10, 2007, and gave a sold-out two-hour performance before 22,000 fans at the O2 arena in London, England. The concert was staged as a tribute to manager and producer Ahmet Ertegun.

The band's concert in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on June 14, 1972, is the longest concert the band has ever performed in. It lasted 4-1/2 hours.

Jimmy Page's guitar, the 1959 Gibson Les Paul, is known for its powerful and distinctive sound that defined the music of Led Zeppelin. The guitar is considered one of the most valuable musical instruments ever. Page authorized a limited reissue edition of signature guitars to be made by the original maker.

Steve Winwood, Steve Marriott and Donovan were considered for the job of lead singer for Led Zeppelin before Robert Plant was hired.

"Led Zeppelin IV" as of July 2012 has shipped more than 40 million units worldwide, with 23 million sales in the US alone, making it the third highest-selling album in US history.

The band's recordings are among the most bootlegged in the history of rock music.

"South Bound Suarez" and "All My Love" are the group's only two songs for which Jimmy Page did not receive a writing credit.

On 12 January 1995 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. Jimmy Page had also been previously inducted as a member of The Yardbirds.

"Presence" is the only Led Zeppelin album that does not have any pianos, organs or keyboard-type instruments being used on any of the songs.

Former member of The Yardbirds Chris Dreja took the picture that appears on the back of the self-titled first Led Zeppelin album.

After John Bonham's death, there were media rumors that Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, Simon Kirke or Bev Bevan might replace him as the band's drummer, but there was never any real consideration for this.

Sandy Denny is the only guest vocalist ever to be included in a Led Zeppelin song. She sang "The Battle of Evermore" with them on their untitled fourth album.

Their debut album, "Led Zeppelin", was recorded in less than 30 hours studio time for a budget less than £1750 (including artwork).

According to recording engineer Andy Johns, it only took them two hours to record "Stairway to Heaven".

"Stairway to Heaven" was performed live for the very first time at Ulster Hall, Belfast, Ireland (5 March 1971) and then at the National Stadium, Dublin (6 March 1971), the band's only appearances in Ireland.

The largest concert in the history of the band took place in August 1979 at the Knebworth Festival where 420,000 people witnessed them perform.

The band traveled in a jet nicknamed "The Starship".

Robert Plant was given the nickname of Percy while he was a member of the band.

Robert Plant re-united with Jimmy Page in 1993 for a tour and album, "No Quarter.".

Their last official concert before John Bonham's death was in Berlin, Germany, on July 7, 1980, at the Eissporthalle. They made several unofficial reunion performances during the 1980s and 1990s at various parties and anniversaries. Finally the official reunion concert was performed on December 10, 2007, in London.

Recipient of the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipient that year were Buddy Guy, Dustin Hoffman, David Letterman, and Natalia Makarova.

The band has sold almost 300 million units worldwide, with 111.5 million album sales in the US alone.

The first time all four musicians recorded together was for P.J. Proby's "Three Week Hero" sessions in 1968.

Were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. (12 September 2006).

Won the 2006 Polar Music Prize. Won the 2005 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

On the week ending 3 November 1979, the band set a new Billboard record for the most number of albums (nine) by a single artist in the Billboard 200 album chart, in any charting week. The band had surpassed the previous record, held by them in March 1975. During 1975 three other albums by Swan Song recording artists--Bad Company, The Pretty Things and Maggie Bell--were also in the Top 200.

The untitled fourth Led Zeppelin album has been referred to as "Untitled", "Zoso", "Runes", "Sticks", "Man With Sticks" or simply "Led Zeppelin IV".

"In My Time of Dying" is the longest song that Led Zeppelin ever recorded on a studio album. It clocks at 11 minutes and 4 seconds. It is found on the "Physical Graffiti", album which they released in 1975.

Jason Bonham, the son of John Bonham, is widely considered as good a drummer as his father was. He successfully played his father's classic drums solos at the band's reunion concert in 2007.

Though much revered by many of his peers, John Bonham's personal favorite drummers were Gene Krupa, Ginger Baker, Buddy Rich, Max Roach and Keith Moon.