1985: Jimmy Page Plays A Surprise Gig With The Beach Boys

1985: Jimmy Page Plays A Surprise Gig With The Beach Boys | Society Of Rock Videos

via Mark Zep/YouTube

An Unexpected Collaboration

It was on July 4, 1985 – almost five years after John Bonham’s death and Led Zeppelin’s break-up. A few days later, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones would reunite for the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia. But on July 4, Page surprised the crowd by playing with The Beach Boys on two shows. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt, he melted everyone’s faces off with his solos.

The first show happened in the afternoon in Philadelphia where he performed Little Richard’s “Lucille” while the other one was later that night in Washington, DC where he sat in for “Surfin’ USA” and “Barbara Ann”. For both performances, Page used his B-bender-equipped Fender Tele.

Page also shared this on his Instagram with the caption: “On this day in 1985, I played Independence Day with The Beach Boys ??
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Philadelphia and Washington were played on this memorable day and we travelled by train between the two cities. ⁣⁣⁣
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Mr T was also on that trip. I became quite friendly with Beach Boy musician Bruce Johnston. It was an honour to meet Brian and Carl Wilson and play with The Beach Boys on this historic day, however, we don’t celebrate July 4th in England.⁣⁣”

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