Goodreads Bookshelf
On Commitment
Robert Plant, the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, was discouraged by his parents in his love of music and his commitment to become a singer.
Finally he left home at sixteen for the life of a blues musician. Later he would reflect on the decision: "I decided that if I didn't get anywhere by the time I was twenty, I would pack it in. Of course it didn't really matter what happened because I wouldn't have packed it in anyway. The whole scene was amazement, enlightenment, a total tripout. You just cannot reproduce those moments.... You can't give up something you really believe in for financial reasons. If you die by the roadside then you die by the roadside--so be it. But at least you know you've tried. Ten minutes in the music scene was the equal of one hundred years outside of it." -- as quoted by Stephen Davis in Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga
Before meeting Jimmy Page and becoming Zeppelin's lead singer, he was kicked out of a band by its manager and told that he couldn't sing. For tbat matter, Jimmy Page had second thoughts during the first tour...
Well, I guess he did all right, and it was commitment that let him do it, despite naysayers from his family to the professional world. His commitment and a lot of drugs and groupies....
It is inspiring to read about people that went against what their family
and other people think and still became a success. Maybe there is hope for
me yet!
Never say never, I always say. I think of Grandma Moses and others who
started their dreams after retiring from the rat race. There is hope yet!
I used to be a huge Zepplin fan, but now sort of wish he'd stop singing.
His voice grates after a few decades. I still like the old stuff, their
first album is my favorite as well as the most bluesy.
The drugs might have helped but I swear those damn groupies just get in the
way!