what was led zeppelin reaction to the kenneday honors

Obamas, Letterman & Led Zeppelin Blown Away Past HEART's Kennedy Center Honors "Stairway To Heaven"

past • December 29, 2012 • Charlie Rose, History, Inspiration, Music, Idiot box • Comments (0) • 27831

A few nights agone I was in a semi-comatose state after gorging myself on a behemothic portion of turkey Christmas dinner leftovers when I happened to tune into this year'due south Kennedy Center Honors which aired on CBS. The annual list typically honors 7+ people, simply the 2012 group is unique to say the least because it honored 4 people and ane iconic trio — Led Zeppelin. This year's recipients at the 35th annual national celebration of the arts included: bluesman Buddy Guy, actor and director Dustin Hoffman, comedian and tv host David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova, and rock band Led Zeppelin. While legendary British stone group Led Zeppelin were honored every bit a band, keyboardist/bassist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page, and vocalizer Robert Plant each received the Kennedy Center Honors individually likewise. Rightfully so, considering the British saints of stone are the greatest living stone band of all time.

The honorees were crowned in a star-studded Washington ceremony on December second, only the anniversary was not televised until December 26th. The Letterman tribute was seriously amazing, and rightfully paid tribute to the most of import legacy comedian live today. Simply the serious megawatt power was reserved entirely for Led Zeppelin. Jack Black opened the tribute to the rock gods with a few touching words, which swiftly followed past the Foo Fighters' rendition of "Rock and Roll" also as Kid Rock's high-free energy rendition of "Ramble On" off 1969′south Led Zeppelin II, while Kravitz delivered a standing ovation functioning of "Whole Lotta Honey" with President Obama seen singing along from the audience.

Simply hands downwardsthe pinnacle came with Eye's breathtaking functioning of "Stairway To Sky". On the field of study of how HEART was brought into this tribute, on December 20th I happened to grab Charlie Rose'south interview with legendary producer George Stevens Jr. who founded the Kennedy Middle Honors 35 years ago. Appropriately enough, this twelvemonth Stevens received an honorary Oscar in a ceremony which took identify in Los Angeles on December 1st. Actress Annette Bening and Academy Accolade-winning player Sidney Poitier took the stage at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Eye in Hollywood to speak about the work of George Stevens Jr.: "When y'all piece of work with George Stevens, art and activism are never very far apart," said Poitier. As on-lookers got teary-eyed, George Stevens Jr. took to the stage to take his Oscar from Sidney Poitier: "I didn't want to devote my life to becoming the second-all-time filmmaker in my family." (Note: Stevens' father George Stevens directed the legendary movie Shane in 1953).

In his sit-down with Charlie Rose, George Stevens Jr. discusses not just his career, simply also the immense challenge of how to construct an all-as well-short tribute to a band as significant and influential as Led Zeppelin. You can watch him speak virtually how he and his son produced the Led Zeppelin Kennedy Center Honors tribute segment in the reddish link below. Worth noting is how Robert Constitute of Led Zeppelin told George personally how much he was dreading how the Kennedy Heart Honors would handle their greatest song "Stairway To Heaven" in particular — mainly because he and his bandmates had seen it handled so disastrously in the past. Plant told Stevens after the ceremony that it was one of the greatest and most emotionally riveting performances of the classic song he and the band had ever seen (Notation: TO Lookout man CHARLIE ROSE'S INTERVIEW WITH KENNEDY CENTER HONORS' FOUNDER, PRODUCER, AND THE NEWEST OSCAR HONOREE GEORGE STEVENS JR. CLICK HERE (AND CLICK ON GEORGE'South Epitome TO START THE VIDEO Role player).

Led Zeppelin immediately shut down post-obit the decease of their honey friend and drummer John Bonham in 1980. Worth noting, notwithstanding, is the fact that during Center'southward performance of "Stairway To Heaven", John Bonham's son Jason Bonham (born 1966) tin can be seen playing the drums during the performance. Five years ago on December 10, 2007 Led Zeppelin reunited for the now legendary Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 Arena in London, with Jason Bonham taking his belatedly father'due south place on drums. According toGuinness World Records 2009, Led Zeppelin gear up the world record leading upward to that outcome for the "Highest Demand for Tickets for One Music Concert" for that reunion as 20 million requests for the reunion evidence were rendered online. Music critics praised the band'due south performance that night as going far beyond even the wildest expectations of fifty-fifty the band's greatest fans. To learn more virtually Led Zeppelin — the greatest ring that has ever lived — be sure to visit Wikipedia. To enter the Female parent Ship simply head over to LedZeppelin.com, and to learn more than nearly what happened in Washington on the evening of Dec 2nd simply caput over to Kennedy-Center.org.

On a personal annotation, Robert Institute is 1 of my greatest all-time heroes, and another personal hero of mine is bluegrass icon Alison Krauss. Robert Institute then happens to exist a longtime giant fan of Alison's as well and produced the album Raising Sand which features several duets betwixt the two. Led Zeppelin has made it quite articulate through the decades that the ring would never have happened had it not been for their obsession and dear of American dejection music. Bluegrass being an inextinguishable extension of the genre, Robert Plant's adoration of Alison Krauss tin be heard in every single note on the Grammy Award-winning album. In the YouTube video beneath it's almost impossible to distinguish who has more than respect for their boyfriend collaborator — Robert Constitute for Allson Krauss or viceversa. You can purchase your own re-create of the album past visiting iTunes.