Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant’s voice has been one of the most powerful and distinctive sounds in popular music over the past half-century. While countless singers have been influenced by his trademark howl—from Freddie Mercury to Axl Rose—one could easily argue that the voice of Robert Plant is among the most unique and recognizable in the history of rock and roll. With today, August 20th, marking the singer’s 77th birthday, we decided to take a look back at some historic Robert Plant performances.

While many music fans know that Zeppelin evolved out of The Yardbirds, a group that, at times, featured such notable names as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page, it was not until Page was blown away watching Plant sing Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love” in Birmingham, England (at the suggestion of Page’s first-choice vocalist Terry Reid) that the Led Zeppelin we know today began to come together in earnest.

Related: Robert Plant Drops By Preservation Hall’s Midnight Preserve With Irma Thomas, Allison Russell, More [Photos/Videos]

As Page explained in a 1977 interview with the Trouser Press, “When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with, because I just could not understand why, after he told me he’d been singing for a few years already, he hadn’t become a big name yet.”

The two, however, bonded over their passion for American blues music and began a songwriting and performing partnership that would last for years to come. Plant brought his friend John Bonham in on drums while Page looped in John Paul Jones who he’d known from his days as a session studio musician, and the band was off and running—first as the New Yardbirds and, eventually as Led Zeppelin–blazing a new, heavier trail for rock and roll.

Over the years, many of Page’s initial inclinations about Plant having a big, boisterous personality proved to be true—he cultivated an on-stage persona of bravado that, coupled with his distinctive vocals and chest-bearing sex appeal, made him a focal point of Zeppelin’s live shows and boosted their rapidly growing popularity in the early ’70s. While it also frequently caused tensions within the band, Plant’s swagger became a calling card for Led Zeppelin and is undoubtedly a significant aspect of the enduring legacy of the band’s live performances.

Watch Plant strut his stuff in this rousing rendition of “Whole Lotta Love” live at Madison Square Garden in 1973:

Led Zeppelin — “Whole Lotta Love” — Madison Square Garden — 1973

[Video: Led Zeppelin]

Other than a handful of anniversaries and ill-fated reunion shows over the years–their latest being their acclaimed Celebration Day performance in December 2007–Led Zeppelin was finished after Bonham died in 1980 at the age of 32. But Robert Plant has continued to lend his one-of-a-kind vocals to various solo projects and new bands since then, including a stint with Page as Page and Plant, plus his bands Strange Sensation and The Sensational Space Shifters, and an acclaimed partnership with Alison Krauss resulting in albums Raising Sand (2007) and Raise the Roof (2021).

Fans can watch The Sensational Shape Shifters’ full performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music from 9/28/14 below.

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters — BAM — 9/28/14

[Video: Zephead85]

Though Plant has played some of rock’s biggest stages with Zeppelin and continues filling theaters and topping lineups to this day, you never know when he might drop in for something unannounced. A lucky few at New Orleans’ Preservation Hall, which has a capacity of around 100 people, saw Plant stop by unannounced for the Midnight Preserves series during Jazz Fest, playing Zepp’s “Black Dog” with the world-famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Later that year, he surprised audiences at an intimate cancer benefit concert by singing “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time since Led Zeppelin’s 2007 reunion concert.

Robert Plant — “Stairway To Heaven” — Oxfordshire, England — 10/21/23

[Video: David Mendoza]

Wishing a very happy birthday to one of the most sensational vocalists of all time, Mr. Robert Plant!

[Originally published 8/20/17]