Robert Plant recently revealed that after John Bonham's death and Led Zeppelin's split, there was one musician who really helped jumpstart his solo career. Genesis drummer/singer Phil Collins gave the vocalist some much-needed encouragement to break out as a solo act. Plant has now been recording music as a solo artist for more than three decades and he has been quite successful.
After Zeppelin disbanded, Plant did not know how to start over, but other musicians were ready to play with the popular singer, Blabbermouth notes.
"I made my business to go out and start again at the age of 32 — it's, like, hysterical, really, when you think about it now," he said. "But I worked and worked with these guys — Robbie Blunt, who was a particularly fine guitarist. And I was graced by my first two solo records Pictures at Eleven and The Principle of Moments. A drummer contacted me and said, 'I love Bonham so much I wanna sit behind you when you sing. It was Phil Collins. His career was just kicking in and he was the most spirited and positive and really encouraging force, because you can't imagine what it was like, me trying to carve my own way after all that."
Although Collins played on Plant's first two albums and toured behind them in the 1980s, he did not enjoy filling in for the deceased Bonham at Zeppelin's 1985 Live Aid reunion. He actually felt like Jimmy Page did not want him there.
"It was a disaster, really. Robert wasn't match-fit with his voice and Jimmy was out of it, dribbling. It wasn't my fault it was crap. If I could have walked off, I would have. But then we'd all be talking about why Phil Collins walked off Live Aid — so I just stuck it out."
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