Heart singer Ann Wilson has revealed that she once offered to audition to replace Robert Plant as Led Zeppelin‘s vocalist.
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She approached the band after they reunited for the one-off Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert at the O2 Arena in London in December 2007.
Despite Plant not wanting to take part in a full scale reunion, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones held some sessions where they jammed with potential new vocalists including Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler in 2008.
At the time Wilson said she “threw (her) hat in the ring” but heard nothing back.
“(Led) Zeppelin always was a boy’s club,” she told My Planet Rocks. “I know that because there was a minute when the rumour was that they were auditioning singers and I just threw my hat in the ring. I went, ‘I’m here!’ and it was crickets (silence).
“But anyway, who would want to hire somebody that could sing just like (Robert) Plant? I don’t think that’s what they were into, you know? I don’t think they want it to be a caricature of Led Zeppelin.”
Despite that four years later, she performed ‘Stairway To Heaven’ in front of Plant, Page and Jones and received a standing ovation from them at the Kennedy Center Honors.
Last year, Wilson also shared live covers of Zeppelin’s ‘Going To California’ and ‘Black Dog’, which were both filmed at Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, Plant recently revealed that Zeppelin’s reputation for rock ‘n’ roll excess was was an “incredible exaggeration”.
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