A new documentary on the early years of Led Zeppelin is on the way as the famous rock band continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2019.
According to a new report shared by NME on Wednesday, Bernard MacMahon, who directed the 2017 American Epic mini-series, will lead a new documentary chronicling the individual journies of all four Zeppelin members throughout the 1960s leading up to the band’s formation, and their ultimate overtaking of The Beatles on the pop charts in America by the time Led Zeppelin II arrived in 1970. This will be the first time that the members of Zeppelin have participated in telling their own story in a documentary.
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The film is currently untitled and without a release date, but will feature new interviews with surviving members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones, in addition to never-before-seen interviews with their late drummer, John Bonham, whose death in 1980 lead to the band’s breakup.
Robert Plant acknowledged MacMahon’s work on American Epic as an inspiration for his own contributions to the forthcoming project. “Seeing Will Shade, and so many other important early American musicians, brought to life on the big screen in ‘American Epic’ inspired me to contribute to a very interesting and exciting story,” the singer mentioned in a statement to go with the report.
Page also added, “When I saw everything Bernard had done both visually and sonically on the remarkable achievement that is ‘American Epic’, I knew he would be qualified to tell our story.”
The film was written by MacMahon and Allison McGourty, with Garbage guitarist Duke Erikson also serving as a producer.
The members of Led Zeppelin haven’t performed publically together since December 2007 when they regrouped for one night in tribute to the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The concert resulted in the 2012 live album and film, Celebration Day. More recently, the band has celebrated their 50th anniversary with a new photo book, album reissues, and even a Vans sneaker line. The band took also recently took to their social media outlets to share the first episode of a new history video series.
[H/T NME]