On This Day in 1994: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Join Forces Again for a Landmark Recording
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Returning to the Stage Together
On this day (August 25) in 1994, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant reunited to record part of No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded. The album included new arrangements of Zeppelin classics along with original material, supported by a Moroccan string band and an Egyptian orchestra.
The project took shape across three locations. Earlier in the year, Page and Plant traveled to Marrakech, Morocco, to record several songs. They continued at Aberliefenni quarry in Wales, before finishing the sessions at the London Weekend Studios. The last recordings were captured in front of an invite-only audience over two nights.
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Tension with John Paul Jones
The sessions were not intended as a full Led Zeppelin reunion. At the time, Page, Plant, and John Paul Jones were the surviving members of the group. However, Jones was not contacted about the project. Instead, he discovered the news through the press, which reportedly left him frustrated. The decision was especially sensitive since Jones had made key contributions to the song “No Quarter,” the track that inspired the project’s name.
A Different Vision Than a Zeppelin Reunion
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wanted to avoid reviving Led Zeppelin under its old image. Their focus was to create something fresh. The idea began when MTV approached Robert Plant with the chance to appear on its Unplugged series.
“I would have been incredibly facetious if I thought I could have carried any thread of the Zeppelin history on my own shoulders outside of a live gig,” he told Rolling Stone. “The idea of doing a whole lot of solo stuff–well, I knew that that’s not exactly what everybody would’ve wanted either–however proud I am of all those songs,” Plant added.
Plant Explains His Choice
Plant recalled that he faced a decision when MTV reached out. “It was obvious that I could either say, ‘Well, f**k off. I don’t like MTV anyway. You don’t play me as a rule because I’m too old, so why start worrying bout me now?’ or I could think about how to team up with the one bloke who knew where I was coming from and see if we couldn’t go ahead,” he explained.
The Beginning of Page & Plant
Although Page and Plant had appeared together onstage in the years since drummer John Bonham’s death in 1980, they had not shared much personal connection. The planning of No Quarter gave them a chance to reconnect beyond music. Their partnership developed into the new group Page & Plant, which toured extensively and later released another studio album before disbanding in 1998.
