YEAR
1995
INDUCTED BY
Steven Tyler & Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
CATEGORY
Performers
Hard rock and heavy metal as we know it wouldn’t exist without Led Zeppelin, one of the most popular and innovative rock bands ever.
The band’s blues explosions frequently gave way to heavy folk, mystical psychedelic rock and orchestral detours-a testament to the U.K. group’s versatility and willingness to push sonic boundaries.
Robert Plant
John Paul Jones
John Bonham
Jimmy Page
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By J.D. Considine
To say that Led Zeppelin invented heavy metal is like saying Einstein was good with numbers.
It’s true enough that the quartet influenced an entire generation of heavy rockers, but to suggest Led Zep’s music was therefore equivalent to run-of-the-mill heavy metal would be like blaming the theory of relativity for all the bad science fiction in the world.
Certainly the Led Zeppelin canon had heft. From the galloping rumble of “Whole Lotta Love” to the swaggering, bluesy howl of “Black Dog” to the oriental exoticisms of “Kashmir,” Led Zeppelin’s sound was larger than life in ways other bands could hardly hope to emulate.
