Robert Plant: 65 Years Gone

As a young man, Robert Plant took some training in accountancy. It didn't take and he soon packed it in. A few years ago he told A BBC documentary that after his son, Karak, died of a viral infection in 1977, he considered becoming a teacher. Last week in a twitter Q &A Plant said if he didn't become a singer, he would have become a marriage counsellor. But the truth is, Plant is a singer, a troubadour and has always been so. The likelihood is, that had Plant not become Led Zeppelin's Golden God, he would still be a singer, still be a working musician: it is who and what he is.

Today is his 65th birthday, the day he becomes eligible for social security and the Denny's senior discount. It is worth noting that he is far more likely to take advantage of the latter as he travels America singing for his supper than the former. Retirement just doesn't seem to be on Plant's radar.

So happy birthday Robert Plant, not for the Viking wail or the delicate beauty of That's the Way, not for the three minor blues masterpieces or the grandiosity of Kashmir, not for the solo years or the Page and Plant reunion years (City Don't Cry being an absolute favourite). Not for the 2007 reunion or for finding his big voice in his recent incarnation. Happy Birthday for all of it, the stuff that is seared into my soul, and the stuff that I may never listen to again. I love much of it, some maybe not so much, but you can't help but respect where it all came from, and who else can you say that about after a 40+ year career?

Happy Birthday Robert Plant, and may you keep on ramblin'.

Here's the birthday boy on his last tour,  singing one of his earliest solo hits, Big Log.