People are only just realising what the meaning behind Led Zeppelin's name is – and what the band were called before hitting the big time. The legendary rock group – known for hits like Stairway to Heaven, Immigrant Song, and Ten Years Gone – evolved from the Jimmy Page-featuring band, The Yardbirds. But a name change was needed for the band who eventually settled on Led Zeppelin. Some fans of the group took to Reddit to reveal they are just realising what the name of the band means, and why they dropped one letter from their name before hitting it big.
Led Zeppelin got its name as a result of a humorous comment that came out of a conversation about the band's potential success. After the dissolution of The Yardbirds, guitarist Jimmy Page formed a new group in 1968 with Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. Initially, the group was referred to as the "New Yardbirds.". The name "Led Zeppelin" is credited to a joke made by The Who's drummer, Keith Moon, and bassist John Entwistle. During a discussion about forming a supergroup, Moon quipped that such a project would "go over like a lead balloon," meaning it would fail spectacularly. The phrase stuck with Jimmy Page, and he decided to use it for the band's name.
The spelling "Led" (instead of "Lead") was chosen to ensure that English-speaking audiences would pronounce it correctly, as "leed" rather than "led." Thus, the name "Led Zeppelin" was born, symbolizing something heavy (like lead) and able to soar (like a zeppelin airship). It perfectly captured the band's combination of weighty, powerful music and ambitious, soaring creativity. Name aside, there's no doubt that Led Zeppelin are one of the most successful British rock bands of all time. The band has sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists in history. All nine of their studio albums have been certified multi-platinum, with several considered milestones in rock history.
Their 1973 performance at Tampa Stadium set a record for the largest crowd at a single-artist concert at the time, with 56,800 attendees. And in 1979, the band headlined the Knebworth Festival and performed to more than 120,000 fans. Not only have they been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, they also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Celeb obsessed? Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox.
