Robert Plant nixed Led Zeppelin reunion out of fear of "disappointment"

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant told London's Absolute Radio that he decided against a full reunion tour with the group out of fear that it could disappoint and disillusion fans. Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones, and drummer Jason Bonham played a massively publicized benefit show in December 2007 in London, fueling speculation that a full-blown reunion was on the way. Although the other three wanted to go forward, however, Plant abstained.

According to Gigwise.com, he said on Absolute Radio, "The disappointment that could be there once you commit to that and the comparisons to something that was basically fired by youth and a different kind of exuberance to now, it's very hard to go back and meet that head on and do it justice."

Plant hinted that the absence of late original drummer John Bonham, father of Jason, was also an issue for him, saying, "The reason that it stopped was because we were incomplete, and we've been incomplete now for 28 years."

John Bonham died in 1980, effectively ending Zeppelin's career. Plant said that if Zeppelin was to do anything again, the surviving members had to "make sure that you have all the reasons in the right place to be able to do something with absolute, total conviction."