After years of teasing fans and the media with verbal “no”s, side projects with other musicians and watching the grandkids, it looks like the three original members of famed hard rock act Led Zeppelin are putting their perceived artistic and personal differences aside and are coming together for one final fling. A new movie of their 2007 reunion concert is hitting theaters soon, the film and soundtrack will arrive in stores in time for Christmas, and the trio – Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones – along with the late John Bonham are set to be honored by the Kennedy Center, of all things. How times have changed – we’ve come a long way from reserving that honor for relatively obscure ballerinas and poets.
Zep fans are anticipating that all of this MIGHT lead to some sort of more permanent reunion for recording and concerts, but even if it doesn’t, there’s more activity on this front than there has been for half a decade. And it actually could happen in a year when the Rolling Stones are pondering a similar reunion and shows for the band’s 50th anniversary. Meanwhile, the surviving Who members already have a tour booked.
At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before the Pink Floyd players finally put all their differences aside and commit to a long-term project – hey, if the rest of the Beach Boys were able to get Mike Love on stage and call it a Beach Boys reunion, anything can happen. What’s next – Paul and Ringo jamming with John’s and George’s sons? Maybe not a great idea, but you never know.
Which brings me to trucking. I’d love to know about any fleets who at one time were at the top of their game, then for some reason or another encountered tough times or voluntarily decided to cease operations – and then after a period of time decided to “get the band back together” for another successful run up and down America’s highways. Use the “Comment” section with this column to tell everyone your inspirational comeback or survival tale. We’d love to hear from you. Ramble on!
