Led Zeppelin wouldn’t have been the same band if any one of the four members were different. That includes singer Robert Plant. Though the least musically gifted of the four — he didn’t dare play guitar for much of the 1970s — his powerful voice brought something special to Led Zeppelin’s songs. The band almost lost that talent — twice. One car accident left the singer in a wheelchair. Another Plant car crash could have derailed the band years earlier.
Robert Plant and his wife survived a car accident in Greece in 1975
Led Zeppelin was on top of the world in 1975.
Their double album, Physical Graffiti, achieved Recording Industry Association of American gold status (500,000 copies sold) within a week. The album featured certified hits and some of Led Zeppelin’s most underrated songs. And they were readying for the release of their feature film The Song Remains the Same the following year.
Plant’s car accident in August 1975 provided a dose of sober reality. Plant, his wife, and their children all sustained severe injuries when their car went off the road in Greece. Plant broke his ankle and injured his elbow. His wife, Maureen, fractured her pelvis. The Plants flew back to England to receive emergency medical care.
Then the news got worse. The singer had to leave England to maintain tax exile status. Plant wrote from a wheelchair when the band started work on their 1976 album, Presence.
Strangely, another Plant car crash nearly derailed Led Zeppelin years earlier.
Another Plant car crash could have derailed Led Zeppelin years earlier
He suffered brutal injuries in his 1975 car accident, but Plant was lucky to leave Greece alive. That incident could have felt like deja vu because another plant car crash could have ended Led Zeppelin altogether.
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In early 1970, sometime after wrapping a tour of England and starting a European jaunt, Plant spun his Jaguar off the road. His wife, Maureen, was in the car with him. The authorities immediately contacted Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page since Plant listed him as his next of kin, writes C.M. Kushins in Beast.
Though most of his injuries were superficial, Plant’s car crash was nearly tragic. A fragment of the windshield was lodged in his skull, and he suffered memory loss (according to court testimony reported by Bloomberg). Led Zeppelin canceled one Scottish concert date, per Kushins. Still, Plant recuperated quickly enough to join his bandmates on the European tour before Led Zeppelin headed to the United States for a string of concerts in the early spring of 1970.
Led Zeppelin’s singer and his wife endured another tragedy in 1977
Plant and his wife survived two car crashes. The worst tragedy of their lives happened in 1977.
Plant’s son, Karac, tragically died after a short illness while Led Zeppelin toured the U.S. The band canceled the tour as the singer returned home to be with his family. The shaken Plant considered quitting music but soldiered on and wrote most of the songs on Led Zeppelin’s 1979 album In Through the Out Door with bassist John Paul Jones, including “All of My Love,” an ode to his son.
Robert Plant’s 1970 car crash almost shot down Led Zeppelin just as they started soaring to their greatest heights. The singer channeled his anger and frustration stemming from his other car accident on Presence, which he called Zep’s cry from the depths. Neither of those brutal events compared to the sudden death of his son in 1977, though.
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