# Led Zeppelin to appear on Letterman on Monday (12/3) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616 "2012-11-30T21:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/1 "2012-11-30T21:44:47Z")
Whoa… [Story here.](http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-late-show-w-david-letterman/) It’s to promote their new concert documentary, [“Celebration Day.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbusDxLekPQ) ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/2 "2012-11-30T21:50:31Z")
Thanks for that. Tivo is all set. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/3 "2012-11-30T22:13:24Z")
Who’s playing drums? Jason Bonham, or someone else? ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/4 "2012-11-30T22:22:46Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Who’s playing drums? Jason Bonham, or someone else? John Bonham hologram ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/5 "2012-11-30T22:23:32Z")
Yeah, Jason is on drums, he does an outstanding job. Led Zep fans will definitely want to check out Celebration Day. I saw it on the big screen and it was really well done. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/6 "2012-12-01T00:57:48Z")
Are they going to perform or just sit on the couch and pimp the film? The article only says that they’ll “appear” on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/7 "2012-12-01T02:28:00Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > Are they going to perform or just sit on the couch and pimp the film? The article only says that they’ll “appear” on the show. My question, too. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/8 "2012-12-01T16:57:34Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > Are they going to perform or just sit on the couch and pimp the film? The article only says that they’ll “appear” on the show. Led Zepplin are in Washington DC (where the Letterman show will be taped) for the Kennedy Awards, so I doubt they will even have their musical instruments, let alone perform. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Letterman does his best to convince them to do one quick number - after all, it was Letterman who got Sonny and Cher to sing I Got You Babe that was totally unrehearsed and Cher later said she just got caught up in the moment and decided to sing it there after Letterman put them on the spot. We can hope they might do a song… ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/9 "2012-12-01T17:52:58Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if Letterman does his best to convince them to do one quick number - after all, it was Letterman who got Sonny and Cher to sing I Got You Babe that was totally unrehearsed and Cher later said she just got caught up in the moment and decided to sing it there after Letterman put them on the spot. > > We can hope they might do a song… All it takes for Cher to spontaneously sing “I got you Babe” is to hand her the microphone. For Zepplin to do anything, you’re gonna need some serious equipment ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/10 "2012-12-01T18:19:34Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > For Zepplin to do anything, you’re gonna need some serious equipment …as if they might not have it already on set, “just in case”? Still - I doubt they would want to perform at the last minute. They might agree in advance to do one song - but my bet is they don’t. They will just show a clip or two from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/11 "2012-12-01T21:40:37Z")
Just wanted to say thanks for the heads-up! And Zeppelin fans should do themselves a favor and pick up _Celebration Day_; it really is a damn fine performance. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/12 "2012-12-01T21:52:55Z")
The listings for Moday’s episode list Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones (not “Led Zeppelin”), and also list a musical performance from Paloma Faith, so chances are we won’t see them perform. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/13 "2012-12-02T05:18:09Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > They might agree in advance to do one song - but my bet is they don’t. They will just show a clip or two from the movie. I believe Page and Plant are on record as saying that LZ will never perform again. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/14 "2012-12-02T05:31:28Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Letterman does his best to convince them to do one quick number - after all, it was Letterman who got Sonny and Cher to sing I Got You Babe that was totally unrehearsed and Cher later said she just got caught up in the moment and decided to sing it there after Letterman put them on the spot. Thanks so much for pointing that out. I just watched it and got a little misty-eyed… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/15 "2012-12-02T06:06:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I believe Page and Plant are on record as saying that LZ will never perform again. On the off chance that a Jimmy Page/Black Crowes tour ever happens again, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Chris Robinson seemed to embody a young Robert Plant. I would pick up tickets in a heartbeat to see them again. There was a reunion show in 2007 though. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/16 "2012-12-02T13:42:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I believe Page and Plant are on record as saying that LZ will never perform again. Seems to depend on whom you ask and when. The recent interview with Page featured on the cover of the latest [Rolling Stone](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/cover-story-excerpt-jimmy-page-looks-back-on-led-zeppelins-epic-ride-20121123) is very instructive. Page clearly states that he and Jones and Jason Bonham were quite ready willing and able to tour after the O2 concert in 2007, and in fact went through weeks of rehearsals, but Plant was unavailable (“He was doing his Alison Krauss project.”). Elsewhere in the interview, there is this exchange: > [@](#): > > _Are you frustrated by Robert’s refusal to do more reunion shows? He performs Zeppelin songs on his own tours, but it’s as if he doesn’t want the rest of his life defined by that band. Whereas you don’t mind at all._ > > Well, I don’t pretend it didn’t happen. I’m not saying that he’s just taking a leaf out of the Zeppelin book. But it’s apparent that the third album, where you have this emphasis on the acoustic, was more attractive to him as time went on, rather than the more hardcore elements of Zeppelin. Whereas I’d jump off a roof into that — naked. If you’re familiar at all with Robert Plant’s solo material, you can see what Page is talking about. Plant briefly revisited the Zep sound (most notably using samples on his 1988 album _Now and Zen_), but he has otherwise been much more interested in exploring the Eastern influences and softer, folkier sounds that were his contribution to the sound of Zeppelin (and alienating droves of Zeppelin fans in the process). ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/17 "2012-12-02T16:42:03Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![NadineBeyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NadineBeyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NadineBeyer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/18 "2012-12-03T09:15:41Z")
Awesome, hopefully they perform something! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/19 "2012-12-04T04:07:58Z")
Thanks for this, Bob. You’re the uncle. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/led-zeppelin-to-appear-on-letterman-on-monday-12-3/642616/20 "2012-12-04T06:24:29Z")
> [@Just\_Ed](#): > > …but he has otherwise been much more interested in exploring the Eastern influences and softer, folkier sounds that were his contribution to the sound of Zeppelin… Both “eastern influences” and folk music are clearly apparent in Page’s work prior to his meeting Plant and forming Zep. Have you never heard, for instance, any of the versions of [White Summer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMUwYlQrwPw) by the Yardbirds? You can’t seriously be claiming that the heavier stuff in LZ was all Page and the folky/“eastern” stuff was all Plant.