Wanted: Led Zeppelin Singer

01/07/09 12:33pm

Two of Led Zeppelin's founders will tour and record a new album together, even if frontman Robert Plant isn't involved, according to guitarist Jimmy Page's manager.

Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham (original drummer John Bonham's son) have been rehearsing together and are looking for a singer to round out the band, manager Peter Mensch told Britain's BBC 6 Music.

"Jimmy Page has been playing guitar professionally since he was 16 years old," he said. "Jimmy Page likes being a musician. That's what he does. He doesn't want to be a race car driver or a solicitor.

"So [Page, Jones and Bonham] did the show with Robert Plant [at London, England's 02 Arena in late 2007]. They had a really good time rehearsing, the three of them, before Robert showed up.

"And they decided that if they could find a singer that they thought would fit their bill — whatever their bill was at this stage in their career — that they'd make a record and go on tour. And I support that because, why not? That's what Jimmy Page does. That's his job, his hobby, his vocation.

"John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page enjoy playing with each other, Jason Bonham is a really good drummer, so why not? We just need to find a singer."

Chris Cornell, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy's names have circulated as potential Plant replacements. But whenever the new singer is found, the reconstituted band won't be called Led Zeppelin.

"Whatever this is, it's not Led Zeppelin," a spokesperson for Page's management company, QPrime, told Rollingstone.com in November. "Not without the involvement of Robert Plant."

Plant and bluegrass artist Alison Krauss released a successful collaborative album called Raising Sand in October 2007 and toured extensively in support of it. The singer apparently would rather dedicate his time to working with Krauss than with his old bandmates.