Robert Plant reaches the age of 62 today.
With a new album on the way and the Band Of Joy tour ahead, his unquenchable thirst for musical invention is as high as ever.
So here are 62 vivid examples of his vocal supremacy accompanied by memorable key lyrics and relevant comments:
From 48 to 2010 – he remains the definitive rock vocalist – make sure you play some of these and your own Plant faves this weekend in celebration:
Our Song,  (‘’It made us fall in looooove’’)
Laughing Crying Laughing  (‘’Jack loves Jill she don’t …

Picture by James Brosher
STOP PRESS: Robert Plant has now added a Belfast date and a rescheduled Paris date to the European tour.
Robert Plant and The Band Of Joy will play a rare live show at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast on Tuesday 2 November.
Tickets for the Waterfront Hall, Belfast go on sale Friday 13 August at 9.00am priced from: £38
Waterfront Hall Box-Office: 028 90 334455
www.waterfront.co.uk
From 100 Ticketmaster Outlets Nationwide By telephone: Northern Ireland – 0844 277 44 55
Book On-Line: www.ticketmaster.ie
 The Palais De Sports, Paris gig has now been moved to October …

TBL is sad to report the  death of Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward (second from the right). He  had been suffering from liver cancer and died on Thursday at a hospital near Vancouver, Canada, after complications of pneumonia.
Richie was a member of Robert Plant’s touring band from their UK tour in 1983 through to 1985. He also played on the  Shaken’ N’ Stirred album.  He also worked with Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Barbra Streisand.
Pink And Black (1985)

Richie  was a founding member of Little Feat -the inluencial band …

All photos Dec Hickey/TBL
To complete the TBL Knebworth Then As It Was Archive series , we present a  look back to the second Knebworth concert staged on August 11th1979  -31 years ago today. The very last show Led Zeppelin performed in the UK.
All text taken from the book Then As It Was – Led Zeppelin At Knebworth 1979. Limited edition hardback copies still available – the perfect summer read recalling those golden days of August 1979. Ordering details to the right of this page.
KNEBWORTH 2: DOING THE DINOSAUR ROCK
AUGUST 11th …

With the Them Crooked Vultures members now returning back to their day jobs , John Paul Jones first post TCV appearance found him in Spain at the  African Express concert held in A Coruña, Galiza, NW Spain over the weekend. Reports are sparse but I can confirm that John appeared playing bass on Elíades Ochoa’s version of “Chan Chan.” Mariam improvised and everyone enhanced the haunting Cuban masterpiece. He also appeared alongside former Clash guitarist Mick Jones, Amadou and Mariam, Ochoa, Amparo Sánchez and others in a version of “Rock …

31 years ago today, Led Zeppelin performed their first show in the UK for four years when they made a triumphant comeback at Knebworth.
To mark the occasion here’s the second of our TBL Archive Knebworth Specials:
SEEING WAS BELIEVING:  THEN AS IT REALLY WAS….
Think of Knebworth and the images remain vivid:  The campsite, Tommy Vance’s Friday night rock show filling the air, chants of ‘’Zeppelin’’,’’Zeppelin’’ ,the early morning rush for the gates, the long wait during the day ,Skynyd’s Tuesdays Gone fading from the PA. the screen unfolding…and there performing The …

To mark the 31st anniversary of the final UK Led Zeppelin concerts, here’s the first of the series of TBL Archive Special retro features on Led Zeppelin at Knebworth.
All text is taken from the book Then As It Was –Led Zeppelin At Knebworth 1979 – if you haven’t indulged in this as yet, now is a timely moment to do so.
The  limited edition hardback edition is still available but hurry as the stock is selling down. All books are individually numbered and personally signed by the author – see the …

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy
Bayfront Park Amphitheater, Miami
Saturday, July 31, 2010

Picture by James Brosher
Review by Lee Zimmerman from The Miami New Times.com  
Robert Plant is born again. Well, okay, perhaps not in the religious sense…. Although in Saturday night’s spectacular showing, he and his magnificent Band of Joy did a fair amount of testifying via some gospel-tinged material. Rather, he’s been reborn in the sense that the one-time rock god has descended from Olympus to purvey a style considerably more down to earth.
He’s gone from wailing British blues …

This review and picture by Shawn Geurin
Robert played to a sold out crowed of predominately 50 year olds. Last time he was in Tampa was 1998.  Rumored he spent part of the day walking Clearwater Beach.  Same 1:45 minute set. Sound was outstanding from 5th row, not obnoxiously loud. Robert was in great mood, very little talking though.  He sounded excellent.  A few mis-steps along the way (abbreviated Tall Cool One and Over The Hills transition).   Gallows Pole lacked the thunder I was longing for.   Robert allowed time for each member …

I can remember a fair few Robert Plant new single premieres down the years.
Hearing an advance tape of Big Log in June 83 and knowing it would catch the summer mood. Being totally mystified by Pink And Black when it was first aired on the Whistle Test. Heaven Knows played on Radio One’s review show Roundtable and being given a thumbs up by Bee Gee Barry Gibb. 29 Palms heralding the Fate Of Nations era on a bright April morning.
This week Angel Dance was added to the list. Being out …