Constantly trumping one another with drink, drugs, sexual conquests and unspeakable acts of debauchery, they made even the likes of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards look like Cliff Richard.
But away from the smashed-up suites and ravished groupies, they were hailed as musical legends, had a fanatical following and sold more than 300 million albums. They stayed in only the best hotels - in Los Angeles, the Chateau Marmont and later the Hyatt House (nicknamed the Riot House) - which
they trashed with abandon, and paid for on the way out.
acknowledgment: Daily Mail - www.vh1.com - Wikipedia - You Tube -Others
With booze, drugs and fame of course, came the groupies - often under-age - who queued up in TV strewn corridors outside the band's hotel rooms, eager to bed a Zep.The stories are legion.
But possibly the most infamous incident - which earned Led Zep the top slot in the 100 Sleaziest Moments Of Rock in 2000 - took place in the early days, 1969, at the Edgewater Inn in Seattle. It started with Bonham and road manager Richard Cole fishing for sand sharks, which they hung in their hotel bedroom wardrobes.
And then, as tour photographer Robert Zagaris recalled, the orgy began: "Everyone was smoking joints and hash. A blonde groupie was stripped naked." Next, a party guest tipped a bag of fish entrails all over the girl, who was writhing about with Cole and Bonham.
Then Bonham reportedly grabbed a shark from the wardrobe and used it to perform a sex act on her.
Counter versions hold that it was a red snapper, or that she was whipped with a live octopus, but bass-player John Paul Jones helpfully set the story straight years later with: "I don't think that the octopus story is entirely true. As far as I can remember, it was a dead shark."
Back on stage, they matched their excesses with sell-out tours and prodigious sales, becoming one of the most successful bands of all time.By 1973 they had sold more albums than any group in the world, but there was to be payback for all this.
The first in a succession of disasters happened in 1975, when Plant and his then wife Maureen were seriously injured in a car crash.Two years later, Grant, Cole, Bonham and a security man were arrested for assaulting a staff member at a show in San Francisco. All were fined and given suspended sentences.
On a record-breaking monthlong tour of America , Cole was asked to hire a motorbike and a 10ft python.The bike, it turned out, was for racing up and down the corridor of the group's hotel in Hollywood's Sunset Strip.And the python? He never found out - the Yellow Pages didn't cover snake-hire.
So instead, one of the band threw a birthday party which kicked off with the screening of porn film of the day, Deep Throat.
And, at the cakecutting, George Harrison - attending with wife Patti - grabbed the top tier and chucked it at Bonham, who retaliated, catching the retreating Beatle square between the shoulders, before shoving the pair into the pool.
All of Led Zep were pretty wild, but Pagey and Bonzo pretty much wrote the rules on quintessential rebellious rock-star behavior and excess, outlined in Steven Davis’ classic book, Hammer of the Gods. They were among the first bands to buy their own jet -nicknamed the Starship- which they tricked out with a bar, electric organ, and huge bedroom fit for entertaining…While on the ground they stayed at the most expensive hotels in town and trashed their suites, but encouraged others to get in on the fun. When a hotel employee told band’s manager Peter Grant that he’s always wanted to throw a television set off the roof, Grant handed him a wad of bills and replied “Here, have one on me.” Women lined up outside their rooms to catch a glimpse (or more) of their heroes.
Page in particular was known for having something of a scandalous sex life (to put it mildly). He was rumored to travel with a suitcase full of whips, and apparently had to be chained to his toilet on more than one occasion to “calm down.” John Bonham, dressed as a waiter, once wheeled Page -naked and covered in whipped cream- into a crowded room of fans, which certainly resulted in even more wildness. On their tour, Page requested a motorcycle to race around the hotel hallways, and a 10-foot python…for reasons that remain unknown, and it’s probably best to leave it that way.
