You constantly hear your parents griping about how the so-called good ol’ days are over. They’re right, in the world of music anyway. The reason that they’re right is because it isn’t 1972 when the most iconic rock song of all time “Stairway to Heaven” was released. Now-a-days all you hear on the top radio station charts are songs that you hear for a month by bands that only are popular for 3 years, tops. Led Zeppelin is a band that is still bringing in millions of dollars on iTunes every year and yet they stopped making music over 30 years ago.
Led Zeppelin was formed in 1968 when a guitarist by the name of Jimmy Page needed a drummer, vocalist, and bassist. Jimmy brought along his good friend Robert Plant to be a lead singer. Robert then persuaded his friends John Bonham and John Paul Jones to be the band’s drummer and bassist, and thus Led Zeppelin was born. Led Zeppelin was signed to a record deal with Atlantic records, and here’s the great part, they were signed without performing live. The company heard their recording sessions and instantly took them on. As John Bonham once said “It’s not what you are, it’s what you’re playing.”

The band’s first album was cleverly named…”Led Zeppelin” and topped the British and American charts with “Good Times Bad Times” that featured a whole new sound. Page, the guitarist, used a new technique where he would drag a violin bow across the guitar to create a sort of deep swirling sound. When you listen to some of their later work like “Achilles Last Stand”, 1976, and “Whole Lotta Love”, 1969, you can distinctly hear the sound during the chorus and during the solos. The album, in which “Good Times Bad Times” was included, was recorded nine days after the band’s lineup. At this time the band had only been together for one month.

Despite their fame and great sound, they weren’t too popular with conservative critics. These critics claimed the band was popular based solely on hype and not the band’s music. In protest, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album with the name “IV”, or four in Roman numerals, and only had themselves represented as symbols on the album cover. What they were saying by this is that the music would speak for itself. Well…they were right. The album went 23 times platinum on the American charts without ever being #1.

Led Zeppelin also performed live like any other band but when Led Zeppelin performed it broke records. In 1973, when they performed in Tampa, Florida, they sold tickets to over 56,000 fans and made roughly 4,000,000 dollars. Two years later they broke that record in Pontiac, Michigan when they played to 76,229 fans. How did they get to all these performances though? Oh yeah…they had their own custom Led Zeppelin jumbo jet. The Starship, as they called it, was purchased by their tour manager and renovated to include limited seating, a full bar, living room, an organ, multiple bedrooms, and their name on the exterior. This was 4 years after the band was formed…they must’ve been a good band.

Led Zeppelin topped the charts with many of their songs which are all amazing, but one song in particular stood out. That song was called “Stairway to Heaven” and is known today as the most iconic rock song ever created. After the song was released, many people thought that Led Zeppelin had sold their souls to the devil because their song was so brilliant. I personally wouldn’t care either way. The song is 8 minutes and 2 seconds long and was never edited for time to be put on the radio. The song is made up of three sections, each increasing in volume and tempo until finally Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant are all playing like they’re on the top of the world.  It has often been said that the only reason the song isn’t longer is because Bonham’s drums were on fire and Page’s strings were blowing off the guitar. “Stairway”, as it was dubbed, is my favorite song of all time and I’m sure I can vouch for almost Led Zeppelin’s entire fan base.

Led Zeppelin is the best band of all time for three simple reasons.  One, they have some of the most complex and popular music of the 20th century. Two, they aren’t just some average pop/rock band; they actually created new and revolutionary music. Three, they have been named the best band in history and have written and performed the most iconic rock song in history.  For these reasons I think it’s safe to say that Led Zeppelin is the best band of all time.