Jimmy Page Biography

Jimmy Page is without a doubt one of the most influential, significant, and diverse guitarists and composers in rock history. Page's work with Led Zeppelin inspired nearly every rock guitarist from the late 1960s to the present day — his monolithic riffs served as a template for what would ultimately become heavy metal, yet he refused to be pigeonholed into any particular musical style (touching upon folk, country, funk, blues, and other genres). Page also contributed to the composition (or co-writing) of many of Led Zeppelin's iconic songs, as well as producing all of their albums. Page, who was born in Heston, Middlesex, England on January 9, 1944, began playing the guitar at the age of 13 after being inspired by the Elvis Presley song Baby Let's Play House, and while he received some lessons, he was largely self-taught. Instead of going to college straight after high school, Page joined Neil Christian & the Crusaders, his first major rock band, with whom he toured England. Page, however, became very ill (with glandular fever) and was obliged to stop working and rest. Page, dejected, considered abandoning music in favor of pursuing another passion, painting, when he enrolled in an art college in Sutton, Surrey. With the rise of bands like the Rolling Stones and their gritty blues-rock in the early 1960s, Page's passion for music reawakened, but instead of establishing a band straight immediately, he chose to perfect his skill as one of England's best session guitarists and producers. Although the exact details of which sessions he worked on have grown foggy with time, it's been verified that he worked with several of the day's top bands, including The Who, Them, Donovan, the Kinks, and The Rolling Stones, to name a few. By 1966, Page was ready to leave his consulting work behind and join a full-time band; he accepted an invitation to join the Yardbirds (at first as a bassist, later as a guitarist), where he would be partnered with another of rock's all-time guitar greats, Jeff Beck. The Yardbirds began as a straight-ahead blues-rock band, but once Page joined the lineup, they began experimenting with psychedelic and hard rock styles. Despite the fact that the Yardbirds' career was on the decline (Beck resigned shortly after Page joined), Page participated on the album Little Games and on numerous tours until the band called it quits in 1968. With a number of European tour dates still scheduled, Page opted to go through with the gigs and form the New Yardbirds, which included longtime session bassist John Paul Jones, as well as newcomers Robert Plant on vocals and John Bonham on drums. After completing their first tour, the band renamed itself Led Zeppelin and ventured into the still mostly unexplored realm of hard rock/heavy metal. From 1969 through 1975, the band released a run of outstanding albums, including Led Zeppelin I, Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti, which became instant classics. Page also made the opportunity to cooperate with Roy Harper, a folk artist (most notably his 1971 release, Stormcock, under the alias S. Flavius Mercurius). By the mid-'70s, Zeppelin had established their own record label, Swan Song, and was arguably the biggest rock band in the world (their influence on other rock bands following in their footsteps cannot be overstated), but it was also around this time that Page began dabbling with heroin and other substances, eventually leading to him becoming a full-blown addict by the late '70s/early '80s (as a result, his playing began to suffer). Page's fascination with the occult also became a source of concern for others around him. Plant's young son died in 1977, and Bonham died of alcohol-related death in 1980, but Zeppelin continued to release albums until the dawn of the 1980s (1976's concert movie/soundtrack The Song Remains the Same and Presence, 1979's In Through the Out Door), but tragedy eventually derailed the quartet. Page vanished from view when Led Zeppelin decided to call it quits in late 1980. (it became known later on that he hardly touched his instrument for a long time afterward). Page didn't come out of his self-imposed seclusion until 1982, when he created and played on the motion film soundtracks for Death Wish I and Death Wish II, as well as compiling the Zeppelin outtakes collection. In 1984, Page appeared on a successful EP of rock & roll oldies The Honeydrippers with Plant, Beck, and Nile Rodgers, and founded the Firm, his first band since the dissolution of Zeppelin. Despite the fact that their self-titled debut was a big smash, the band chose to call it quits shortly after the publication of Mean Business, a mediocre follow-up. When Led Zeppelin's surviving three members reassembled (along with drummers Tony Thompson and Phil Collins) for the massive Live Aid concert at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium in July 1985, audiences were treated to a rare treat — regrettably, they handed in an extremely under-rehearsed performance. In 1988, Zeppelin reformed for the Atlantic Records 25th Anniversary Concert at Madison Square Garden in New York (this time with Bonham's son, Jason, filling in for his late father behind the kit), and delivered yet another error-filled short set. In the same year, Page appeared on Plant's solo album Now & Zen and released his first solo album, Outrider, which was followed by a tour that featured songs from throughout his career. By the early 1990s, more speculations of a possible Zeppelin reunion were circulating. Page's most recent project, 1993's highly Zeppelin-influenced Coverdale/Page, barely lasted a single album, as a planned global tour was canceled in favor of just a few select performances in Japan. Plant and Page reunited in 1994 (albeit Jones was not invited this time), resulting in the publication of the acoustic collection No Quarter, as well as a very successful MTV Unplugged special and a sold-out world tour. Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a year later, marking the second time a Page-related band had received the accolade (in 1992, the Yardbirds were honored). Walking into Clarksdale, an album of all-new songs released by Plant and Page in 1998, was shockingly poorly received by the audience, and it faded from view quickly after its release. By the late 1990s, the duo had split up, with Page joining the Black Crowes for a tour and live record (2000's Live at the Greek). Another Crowes/Page tour was cut short the same year the album was released owing to Page's back ailment. Page, though, joined Plant on stage in June 2001 to commemorate the 60th birthday of their mutual friend, folk musician Roy Harper.

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