Robert Plant will forever be known for his work as the vocalist of Led Zeppelin. And that’s understandable — his onetime band was, after all, one of the most iconic bands of their time, and one which still continues to influence artists today. But Plant’s solo work in the years that followed has offered plenty for listeners to savor as well. Writing at Pitchfork in 2014, Stuart Berman noted that “the refusal to rest on his laurels has made him not more confrontational an artist but more congenial.”
It seems like Plant himself has been thinking about his legacy in the last year as well. A new report by Cillian Breathnach at Guitar.com reveals a new announcement from Plant — that he’s spent time during the pandemic assembling an archive of music and documents to be released upon his death.
The announcement came via an episode of his podcast Digging Deep. “I’ve told the kids when I kick the bucket, open it to the public free of charge,” he told his co-host, Mark Everitt. “Just to see how many silly things there were down the line from 1966 to now. It’s a journey.” According to Plant, the archive includes everything from unreleased music to a letter from his mother noting that “the accountancy job is still open in Stourport-on-Severn.”
Plant is far from alone in readying work for posthumous consumption. Writers like Mark Twain and Jan Morris took similar approaches. And given the controversies surrounding Prince’s posthumous archive, it’s understandable to see why Plant would want to do this now, rather than put it off.
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