LONDON — Robert Plant believed his days of making albums were over.
The former Led Zeppelin frontman shared the revelation during a recent appearance on the “Rockonteurs” podcast. Plant was there to discuss several topics, including the debut album from his latest group, Saving Grace—a project that took six years to complete. According to Plant, the idea of recording another album was almost abandoned.
“This day was never going to come, because originally it wasn’t going to come,” Plant said. “No more records, that’s it.”
Plant said he preferred the freedom of playing shows when and where he wanted, without the pressure of recording. “The bottom line is, I never even thought this was a starter in my being. I just didn’t want to make any more albums,” he said. “It wasn’t the end, it’s just like, that’s enough.”
However, collaborating with the members of Saving Grace changed his perspective. The experience of revisiting and reinterpreting music that helped shape his artistic identity reinvigorated his interest. The group worked on the album at a relaxed pace, beginning in 2019 and continuing to develop material through the pandemic.
“There’s a myriad of songs that we know now so well as part of the canon of contemporary popular music going back 50 or 60 years,” Plant said. He referenced “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals as an example of how classic songs can take on new life. “All those songs, they become something else.”
Before connecting with Saving Grace, Plant said he felt restless. His pairing with Alison Krauss on CMT’s “Crossroads” in 2004 marked a turning point. “For me, I found it was such a release and such an escape,” Plant said. He realized it was time for a change. “I’d probably gone as far as I could [as a solo artist]. There was no point in going back to my peer group, because the peer group wasn’t there.”
“There were some great players, but I was trading too much on tripping out other songs that I didn’t want to sing really, now,” Plant said. “So if you’re going to sing them, sing ’em in a totally different way—not banjo, not accordion, just give it a rest. So I gave it a rest and went to Nashville, and it was there that I had my second coming.”
Plant and Krauss released their debut album, “Raising Sand,” in 2007. The record sold more than a million copies in the United States and earned five Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Plant later revealed that the sessions were vocally challenging, even for someone with his experience.
The duo released a follow-up album, “Raise the Roof,” in 2021 and toured in the following years, most recently with U.S. dates in the summer of 2024.
On the new Saving Grace album, Plant does not handle all lead vocals. The group operates as a musical collective, with vocalist Suzi Dian and multi-instrumentalist Matt Worley also taking lead. “This is not stardom time,” Plant said. “If people can do it, they should do it.” He added that working with different groups over the past two decades has helped keep his work fresh and inspiring.
Plant said he feels positive about his current collaboration with Saving Grace and enjoys the looseness of the group. “Which is great, and we laugh,” he said. “It’s being pleased enough with what’s happening in the moment not to care about getting it wrong.”
“I think the very essence of all this is that all of us as individuals will carry on playing, and I will stay with these guys as long as it continues to be as good as this,” Plant said. “And I think it will, and it’ll grow more and beyond that.”