In the new issue of Rolling Stone — on stands and online in the digital archives now (subscription required) — Robert Plant explains to writer Stephen Rodrick why he was unwilling to keep performing with Led Zeppelin after their 2007 reunion concert.
"It was an amazing evening," Plant says. "The preparations for it were fraught and intense, but the last rehearsal was really, really good, for all that it represented and all that we were trying to capture. But I've gone so far somewhere else that I almost can't relate to it...It's a bit of a pain in the pisser to be honest. Who cares? I know people care, but think about it from my angle — soon, I'm going to need help crossing the street."
Other highlights from the piece:
— Plant and Alison Krauss began crafting a follow-up to their 2007 surprise smash LP "Raising Sand," but it didn't go well. "The sound wasn't there," says Plant. "Alison is the best. She's one of my favorite people. We'll come back to it."
— Plant recently flew to Morocco and recreated a legendary trip he went on with Jimmy Page in 1978 where the duo wrote "Kashmir." "I wanted to go back and take that road," Plant says. "It just heads all the way down the coast. It was f---ing amazing."— Tony Blair's religious awakening horrified Plant to the point that he stopped writing new songs. "The last time I lifted a pen was when Tony Blair became a Roman Catholic," he says. "We were supposedly going into the Gulf, determined to sort the world out in the name of tyranny. Then, once he had to leave the throne, he became a Roman Catholic and became a peace envoy in the Middle East. That's when I knew the world was completely upside down."— Plant is endlessly annoyed by his musical peers (he won't name names) who do little besides replay their old hits. "There's nothing worse than a bunch of jaded old farts, and that's a fact," he says. "People who have written their story — they've gotten to the point where nothing moves. I don't deal in that, and I don't deal with anybody who deals in that."