Robert Plant just wrapped up the European leg of his tour with his band Saving Grace, and as the North American dates approach this October, fans hoping for a full-on Led Zeppelin greatest hits setlist might want to adjust their expectations.
Yes, Plant has been sprinkling in a few Zeppelin favorites like “The Rain Song” and “Ramble On”, but don’t expect the legendary frontman to belt out some of the band’s most famous anthems. His reason? In his words, “to do it for the sake of it was never what Zeppelin was about.”
Plant explained that the so-called “hits” from Led Zeppelin are tricky to place in today’s context.
“They fit as a sort of memoir,” he said, adding that it’s not that he hates songs like “Stairway to Heaven”, but he’s not drawn to the idea of performing them just for nostalgia’s sake.
Instead, Plant has a soft spot for some of Zeppelin’s deeper cuts. He praised tracks like “For Your Life” from the album “Presence” and the epic “Achilles Last Stand”, calling it “extraordinary that three people and a singer can do that.” To him, these songs capture more of the magic and challenge that made the band legendary in the first place.
In another bit of classic Plant independence, he also declined an invite from Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi to attend the band’s “Back to the Beginning” show. “I said, Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come… I don’t know anything about what’s going on in that world now,” he explained. Plant stressed that it’s not about disrespect — he simply feels his creative life has moved into “other places that are so rich.”
So, when you see Robert Plant live in 2025, expect a mix of Saving Grace’s material, a few carefully chosen Zeppelin tracks, and a setlist that reflects where he is now, not just where he’s been.
For Plant, it’s about keeping the music alive in the present, not locking it in the amber of classic rock history.
It’s a bold move in an era when nostalgia tours dominate the live music circuit, but then again, Robert Plant has never been one to follow the crowd. And judging by his energy and curiosity, it seems like he plans to keep it that way.