Robert Plant performs “Immigrant Song” for the first time in over two decades

Per Ole Hagen/RedfernsRobert Plant did something last weekend he hadn’t done in 23 years: he performed “Immigrant Song.”

Plant used the 1970 Led Zeppelin classic to close out his headlining set at the Secret Solstice festival in Iceland.

According to Billboard, the last time the former Led Zeppelin frontman performed “Immigrant Song” was with Jimmy Page on February 9, 1996, while the duo was touring as Page & Plant. The song didn’t make the set list for a 2001 reunion of the two, nor for 2007’s one-off Led Zeppelin reunion concert at London’s O2 Arena. However, Page played it at the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction alongside then-inductee Beck.

It was appropriate that Plant chose to break his “Immigrant Song” performance drought in Iceland.  According to an interview he gave in 1970, Iceland played an integral role in the song’s creation.

“We went to Iceland, and it made you think of Vikings and big ships,” plant said following a Led Zeppelin tour of the Nordic country. “And bang, there it was: ‘Immigrant Song!'” 

Plant has shows in Norway and Denmark tonight and tomorrow night, respectively, before taking a break from touring until September, when he hits the road again in Canada and the U.S.  Check out his itinerary at RobertPlant.com.

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