Long before Led Zeppelin became music legends, they were simply a band on the hunt for the perfect name. And fans have been shocked to discover the roots of the group’s iconic title.
The journey towards the band’s name began with guitarist Jimmy Page. Back in 1966, Jimmy stepped into a group called The Yardbirds as a replacement for bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, but it wasn’t long before he took the role of lead guitarist.
After many changes to the group’s line-up, Jimmy was the last man standing when The Yardbirds disbanded in 1968. Obliged to play out the remaining gigs, he decided to get a new band together.
Jimmy first brought in vocalist Robert Plant, who then recommended drummer John Bonham. Bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones was the last to get on board, after learning of the opportunity from his wife, who’d spotted it in the newspaper, reports the Mirror US.
They hit the road in Scandinavia as The New Yardbirds, oblivious to the trouble this name would get them into. Chris Dreja, an ex-Yardbirds member, sent them a cease-and-desist letter, insisting the old name was only meant for the concluding tour dates of the original band.
A new moniker for the band was required, and they needed it quickly.
And their now legendary name would come from a conversation that occurred years prior.
Jimmy had once mused about starting a supergroup with Jeff Beck, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle. Jimmy recalls that during those chats, Keith quipped such a band would “go down like a lead balloon”.
In a chat with the Academy of Achievement back in 2017, Jimmy said, “It was a name that Keith Moon had mentioned back then. He was talking, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to have a band called Led Zeppelin?’ And I asked him if we could use the name because I was going to be in this band, Led Zeppelin, with Keith Moon, so was Jeff Beck.”
As he was brainstorming names for his new band in 1968, Jimmy remembered that previous suggestion. However, rather than going with ‘lead balloon’, they aimed for something more imposing.
The spelling of ‘lead’ was tweaked to avoid mispronunciation by American fans as ‘leed’, and ‘balloon’ was switched out for ‘zeppelin’.
Before making their debut as Led Zeppelin, the group took a cautious step. During the recording sessions of their inaugural album in late 1968, tapes were labelled ‘New Yardbirds’ to maintain secrecy about the group’s new name.
Jimmy said, “Even on the first recordings, it said ‘New Yardbirds’ on the box because I didn’t want anybody to know what the name of the band was until we officially unveiled it.”
By the end of 1968, the band emerged into the music world as Led Zeppelin.
Just months later, their first self-titled album hit the record stores, and Led Zeppelin’s groundbreaking merge of blues, rock and state-of-the-art production took 1969 by storm.
But the true story remains a bit of a mystery. Some have said John Entwistle coined the term “lead balloon” rather than Keith Moon, while others reckon it was Chris Dreja’s legal warning that sparked the change.
Yet, it’s Jimmy Page’s account that often hits the headlines, as he unwaveringly attributes the inspiration to Keith Moon – a story the legendary guitarist supports to this day.
