Editing Robert Plant (section)

===Early years===
{{expand section | '''information on the years between their 1968 founding, and their 7th album in 1975 (that is, complete the section, to uniform coverage)''' | small = no|date=June 2016}}

In 1968, guitarist [[Jimmy Page]] was in search of a lead singer for his new band and met Plant after being turned down by his first choice, [[Terry Reid]], who referred him to a show at a teacher training college in [[Birmingham]] (where Plant was singing in a band named Hobbstweedle).<ref name=RS2006>{{cite magazine | author = Gilmore, Mikal | date = 10 August 2006 | title=The Long Shadow of Led Zeppelin | magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] | issue=1006 | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-long-shadow-of-led-zeppelin-20060810 | access-date=16 June 2016 }}</ref> In front of Page, Plant sang [[Jefferson Airplane]]'s "[[Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane song)|Somebody to Love]]", leading Page to end his search.<ref name=RS2006/> As recalled by Plant and Page:
{{blockquote|Plant:  I was appearing at this college when <nowiki>[</nowiki>manager [[Peter Grant (music manager)|Peter Grant]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> and Jimmy turned up and asked me if I'd like to join [[the Yardbirds]]. I knew the Yardbirds had done a lot of work in America&nbsp;– which to me meant audiences who would want to know what I might have to offer&nbsp;– so naturally I was very interested.<ref>Fortnam, Ian (2008). "Dazed & Confused", ''[[Classic Rock Magazine]]: Classic Rock Presents Led Zeppelin'', p. 39.{{full citation needed|date=July 2022}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|Page:  When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he'd been singing for a few years already, he hadn't become a big name yet. So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.<ref>Schulps, Dave (October 1977). "Jimmy Page: Paging the Yardbirds", ''[[Trouser Press]]'' 22.</ref>|sign=|source=}}

[[File:Zoso Robert Plant feather symbol.svg|thumb|left|upright|Derivative of Plant's feather [[Sigil (magic)|sigil]] used in the ''[[Led Zeppelin IV]]'' album]]

With a shared passion for music, Plant and Page immediately developed a strong relationship, and began their writing collaboration with reworkings of earlier blues songs.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

Initially dubbed the "New Yardbirds" in 1968, the band soon came to be known as [[Led Zeppelin]]. The band's [[Eponym#Other eponyms|eponymous]] [[Led Zeppelin (album)|debut album]] hit the charts in 1969 and is widely credited as a catalyst for the [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] genre. Plant has commented that it is unfair for people to think of Zeppelin as heavy metal, as almost a third of their music was acoustic.<ref>''The History of Rock 'n' Roll: The '70s: Have a Nice Decade''.{{full citation needed|date=June 2016}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=June 2016}}

In 1975, Plant and his wife Maureen (now divorced)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1324734/Robert-Plant-wife-how-many-times-married-Led-Zeppelin|title=Robert Plant wife: How many times has Led Zeppelin star been married?|first=Jenny|last=Desborough|date=13 March 2021|website=Express.co.uk}}</ref> were seriously injured in a car crash in [[Rhodes]], Greece.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ledzeppelin.com/event/august-8-1975 |title=Plant Car Accident, Tour Postponed (Press Release)|website=Led Zeppelin – Official Website|date=8 August 1975 |language=en|access-date=23 April 2018}}</ref> This significantly affected the production of Led Zeppelin's seventh album ''[[Presence (album)|Presence]]'' for a few months while he recovered, and forced the band to cancel the remaining tour dates for the year.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzgDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68|page=68|author=Dave Lewis|title=Led Zeppelin: A Celebration|publisher=Omnibus Press|date= 10 Apr 2012|isbn=978-0-85712-819-5 }}</ref>

In July 1977, his son Karac died at the age of five while Plant was on Led Zeppelin's [[Led Zeppelin North American Tour 1977|concert tour of the United States]]. Plant retreated to his home in the Midlands of England and, for months afterward, questioned his future.<ref name="CelebrationII">Lewis, Dave (2003). ''Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The 'Tight But Loose' Files'', London: Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|1844490564}}, p. 54.</ref>