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Although a who’s who of heavy metal turned out for Black Sabbath’s farewell “Back to the Beginning” concert, one notable absence was Robert Plant. As it turns out, the Led Zeppelin frontman received a personal invitation from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, but politely declined.
In a recent interview with MOJO, Plant explained that he turned down the gig because he has been out of the heavy music scene for so long. “I said, Tony, I’d love to come, but I can’t come,” he told the magazine. “I just can’t. I’m not saying that I’d rather hang out with Peter Gabriel or Youssou N’Dour, but I don’t know anything about what’s going on in that world now, at all. I don’t decry it, I’ve got nothing against it. It’s just I found these other places that are so rich.”
Over the past several decades, Plant has shifted his focus to folk and roots music. In addition to releasing two albums with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss, he has formed the groups Band of Joy, Sensational Space Shifters, and, most recently, Saving Grace.
As Plant told MOJO, he currently feels unencumbered by expectations while playing with Saving Grace, which primarily focuses on reinterpretations of century-old music, and would like to keep it that way.
“We’ve got to be very careful now that we make sure it stays closer to Bert Jansch than Axl Rose,” he said. “The gigs are small enough so that if nobody wants to go, it’s not the end of the world. And so, by having that laissez-faire, easy-going, whatever it’s called – suicidal! – attitude, instead of doing the football stadium with some old mates, there it was: we were free. We could mess about.”
To this end, Saving Grace’s setlist doesn’t include Zeppelin’s greatest hits, a choice Plant made to keep that music as a distinct moment in time.
“How can they be related to now, where do they fit? They fit as a sort of memoir,” Plant said, adding that he doesn’t actually dislike “Stairway to Heaven.” “I just don’t like the idea of it. These iconic things — they’re just what they are… to do it for the sake of it was never what Zeppelin was about.”
In other words, don’t expect a surprise reunion from Zeppelin anytime soon. The band’s surviving original members last played together in 2007.
Plant and Saving Grace are set to release their debut album, Saving Grace, on September 26th. Pre-orders are ongoing. Thus far, we’ve heard their reworkings of Low’s “Everybody’s Song” and the traditional spiritual “Gospel Plough.”
They’re also set to tour behind the album this fall. See the dates below, and get tickets here.
Robert Plant and Saving Grace 2025 Tour Dates:
10/30 – Wheeling, WV @ Capitol Theatre Wheeling
11/02 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Paramount Theater of Charlottesville
11/03 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
11/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount
11/06 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Shubert Theatre
11/08 – Port Chester, NY @ Capitol Theatre
11/10 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
11/12 – Chicago, IL @ The Vic
11/13 – Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music
11/15 – Denver, CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
11/18 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theatre
11/19 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
11/21 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox
11/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ United Theater on Broadway
11/23 – Valley Center, CA @ Harrah’s Resort SoCal
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