Post Led Zeppelin (1980–present)

1980s
In 1982, the surviving members of the group released a collection of out-takes from various sessions during Led Zeppelin's career, entitled Coda. It included two tracks taken from the band's performance at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970, one each from the Led Zeppelin III and Houses of the Holy sessions, and three from the In Through the Out Door sessions. It also featured a 1976 John Bonham drum instrumental with electronic effects added by Jimmy Page, called Bonzo's Montreux.

On July 13, 1985 Page, Plant and John Paul Jones reunited at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, for a short set featuring drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins. Collins had played on Plant's first two solo albums. When Live Aid footage was released on a four-DVD set in late 2004, the group unanimously agreed not to allow footage from their performance to be used, agreeing that it was not up to their usual standards. However, to show their ongoing support Page and Plant pledged proceeds from their forthcoming Page and Plant DVD release to the campaign and John Paul Jones pledged the proceeds of his then-current U.S. tour with Mutual Admiration Society to the project.

The three members reunited again in May of 1988, for Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert, with Bonham's son, Jason Bonham, on drums.


1990s
Page and Plant reunited in 1994 for an MTV Unplugged performance (dubbed Unledded) which eventually led to a world tour with a Middle Eastern orchestra, and a live album entitled No Quarter. The bass player was Charlie Jones, who had been the bassist with Plant's own band for several years. Many see this as the beginning of discord with John Paul Jones, who was upset with Page and Plant for touring without asking him first. Tensions were further increased when Plant was asked at a press conference where Jones was, and he jokingly replied that Jones was parking the car.

On January 12, 1995, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the United States Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They were inducted by Aerosmith's vocalist, Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. Jason and Zoe Bonham also attended, representing their late father. At the induction ceremony, the band's inner rift became apparent when Jones joked upon accepting his award, Thank you, my friends, for finally remembering my phone number, causing consternation and awkward looks from Page and Plant. Afterwards, they played a brief set with Tyler and Perry, along with Neil Young and Michael Bell.

On August 29, 1997, Atlantic released a single edit of Whole Lotta Love in the U.S. and the UK, making it the only Led Zeppelin CD single. Additional tracks on this CD-single are Baby Come on Home and Travelling Riverside Blues. It is the only single the band ever released in the UK. It peaked at #21.

November 11, 1997 saw the release of Led Zeppelin BBC Sessions, the first Led Zeppelin album in fifteen years. The two-disc set included almost all of the band's recordings for the BBC.

Page and Plant continued their renewed collaboration through 1998, releasing a critically acclaimed CD of all original Page-Plant compositions called Walking Into Clarksdale, which won a Grammy for best rock song (Most High), and was supported by another world tour, which the duo called Walking Into Everywhere. Eschewing the Middle Eastern orchestra of the 1995 world tour, the '98 shows were an all-out rock and roll show, highlighting classic Zeppelin material, along with Page and Plant originals from the No Quarter and Walking Into Clarksdale CDs.


2000s
In October 2002, the British press reported that Robert Plant and John Paul Jones had reconciled after a 20-year feud which had kept Led Zeppelin apart, and rumours surfaced of a reunion tour in 2003. This was later denied by Plant and Page's management company.

2003 saw the release of a triple live album, How the West Was Won, and a video collection, Led Zeppelin DVD, both featuring material from the band's heyday. At the year's end, the DVD had sold more than 520,000 copies. Around Christmas 2004, Stairway To Heaven was voted the best rock song of all time by Planet Rock listeners in a poll conducted on the station's website. Two other Led Zeppelin songs were also featured in the top ten - Whole Lotta Love at number six and Rock and Roll at number eight.

In 2005, Led Zeppelin received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and readers of Guitar World magazine voted the guitar solo from Stairway to Heaven to be the best rock guitar solo of all time. Led Zeppelin ranked #14 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In November 2005, it was announced that Led Zeppelin and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev were the winners of the 2006 Polar Music Prize. The King of Sweden presented the prize to Plant, Page and Jones, along with John Bonham's daughter, in Stockholm in May, 2006.

In November 2006, Led Zeppelin were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The television broadcasting of the event consisted of an introduction to the band by various famous admirers, a presentation of an award to Jimmy Page and then a short speech by the guitarist. After this, rock group Wolfmother played a tribute to Led Zeppelin, playing the song Communication Breakdown.

Led Zeppelin have always been very protective of its catalogue of songs, and have seldom allowed them to be licensed for films or commercials. In recent years, this position has softened, and their songs can be heard in movies such as One Day in September, School of Rock, Shrek the Third (Immigrant Song in all three), Dogtown and Z-Boys (Achilles Last Stand and Hots on for Nowhere) and Almost Famous (That's the Way, The Rain Song, Misty Mountain Hop, and Tangerine) and Small Soldiers (Communication Breakdown). One Tree Hill was the first, and so far only network television show to license a Led Zeppelin song, using Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. Also noteworthy is the resurgent Cadillac's use of Rock and Roll for their US TV advertising campaign (no doubt for the wry opening line, It's been a long time...). Also, Led Zeppelin have allowed iTunes to sell the music from the upcoming greatest hits collection Mothership, in the iTunes store.

In April 2007 Hard Rock Park announced it had secured an agreement with the band to create Led Zeppelin-The Ride - A roller coaster built by B&M synchronised to the music of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. The coaster will stand 155 feet tall, feature six inversions, and spiral over a lagoon. It will be found in the Rock and Roll Heaven section of Hard Rock Park. As of September 13, 2007, the ride track is complete. The park is aiming to conduct test runs in December. The park opens in May 2008 in Myrtle Beach, SC.

On June 25, 2007, World Entertainment News reported that Led Zeppelin had allegedly agreed to re-form for a special memorial concert in honour of Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records who died in December 2006. It was also reported that if the concert went well, the band would go on tour in 2008. The same report suggested that the three surviving members would be joined on drums by John Bonham's son, Jason. However on June 28, Robert Plant made it appear at a press conference that the reunion discussions were false.

On July 27, 2007, Atlantic/Rhino, & Warner Home Video announced three new Led Zeppelin titles to be released in November, 2007. Released first will be Mothership on November 13, a 24-track best-of spanning the band's career, followed by a reissue of the soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same on November 20 which includes previously unreleased material, and a new DVD.

On October 15, 2007, www.news.com published an article that Led Zeppelin is expected to announce today a new series of agreements that make its songs available as legal digital downloads. First as ringtones through Verizon Wireless then as digital downloads of the band's eight studio albums and other recordings on November 13. The offerings will be available through both Verizon Wireless and iTunes.