Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant has revealed that he once lied about working for NME to gain access to a festival in Marrakech.
The singer pretended he was a journalist for the magazine so that he could get down the front of the barrier and record the folklore music that was being played by the band on stage.
Plant told The Guardian: “Every year there was a folklore festival in Marrakech and I got a press pass. I said I was working for the NME. And I could get right to the front with my recorder, and there were a lot of Berber rhythms that were spectacular.”
Plant went on to say that he believes he and his bandmate Jimmy Page introduced rock music to India by playing an intoxicated jam in a club while high on “illicit substances”.
He added: “Jimmy and I played in a club in Bombay in 1972. I played drums and he played guitar and it was the only club in Bombay that had a drum kit. Somehow or other we ended up in there with loads and loads of illicit substances.
“Some guy is writing a book about rock in India – and apparently it was born in this club with Page and me wired out of our faces. I’m not a very good drummer, to say the least, but for some reason or another it left a mark.”
Led Zeppelin release Celebration Day, a concert film shot at the band’s 2007 reunion gig at London’s 02 Arena, in cinemas on October 17. The film will then get a general DVD release on November 19. A deluxe edition will also include footage of the Shepperton rehearsals, as well as BBC news footage.