▶ Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven Live (HD) - YouTube - 1.mp4

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The band consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. The group's heavy, guitar-driven sound, rooted in blues on their early albums, has drawn them recognition as one of the progenitors of heavy metal, though their unique style drew from a wide variety of influences, including folk music.

After changing their name from the New Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin signed a deal with Atlantic Records that afforded them considerable artistic freedom. Although the group was initially unpopular with critics, they achieved significant commercial success with albums such as Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), their untitled fourth album (1971), Houses of the Holy (1973), and Physical Graffiti (1975). Their fourth album, which features the track "Stairway to Heaven", is among the most popular and influential works in rock music, and it helped to cement the popularity of the group.

Page wrote most of the music early in Led Zeppelin's career, while Plant generally supplied the songs' lyrics. Jones' keyboard-based compositions later became central to the group's music, and their later albums featured greater experimentation. The latter half of the band's career saw a series of record-breaking tours that earned them a reputation for excess and debauchery. Although they remained commercially and critically successful, their output and touring schedule were limited in the late 1970s, and the group disbanded following Bonham's death from alcohol-related asphyxia in 1980. In the decades since, the surviving members have sporadically collaborated and participated in one-off Led Zeppelin reunions. The most successful of these was at the 2007 Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert in London, with Jason Bonham taking his late father's place behind the drums.

Led Zeppelin are widely considered one of the most successful, innovative and influential rock groups in history. They are one of the best-selling music artists in the history of audio recording; various sources estimate the group's record sales at 200 to 300 million units worldwide. With 111.5 million RIAA-certified units, they are the second-best-selling band in the United States.[1] Each of their nine studio albums placed on the Billboard Top 10 and six reached the number-one spot.[2] Rolling Stone magazine described them as "the heaviest band of all time",[3] "the biggest band of the '70s"[4] and "unquestionably one of the most enduring bands in rock history".[5] They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995; the museum's biography of the band states that they were "as influential in that decade [the 1970s] as the Beatles were in the prior one".[

Throughout their career, Led Zeppelin have collected many honours and awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995,[100] and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.[186] Among the band's awards are an American Music Award in 2005, and the Polar Music Prize in 2006.[187] Led Zeppelin were the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005,[188] and four of their recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[189] They have been awarded five Diamond albums, as well as fourteen Multi-Platinum, four Platinum and one Gold album in the United States,[53] while in the UK they have five Multi-Platinum, six Platinum, one Gold and four Silver albums.[190] In addition to listing five of their albums among "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", Rolling Stone named Led Zeppelin the 14th-greatest artist of all time in 2004.[191][192]

Page was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his charity work in 2005 and Plant was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to popular music in 2009.[193] The band are ranked number one on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock[194] and Classic Rock's "50 best live acts of all time".[195] They were awarded an Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Contribution to British Music" in 1977,[196] as well as a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 42nd Annual Ivor Novello awards ceremony in 1997.[197] The band were honoured at the 2008 MOJO Awards with the "Best Live Act" prize for their one-off reunion, and were described as the "greatest rock and roll band of all time".[198] The three surviving members (Page, Plant, and Jones) were named as 2012 recipients of Kennedy Center Honors.[19

Origin London, England
Genres Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, folk rock
Years active 1968–80
(reunions: 1985, 1988, 1995, 2007)
Labels Atlantic, Swan Song
Associated acts Band of Joy, the Honeydrippers, Page and Plant
Website ledzeppelin.com
Past members

Jimmy Page
Robert Plant
John Bonham
John Paul Jones