Legendary rock combo Led Zeppelin is reforming, but for one night only. The British band will play a one-off show at London’s 22,000-capacity O2 arena on Nov. 26 as part of a tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder and chairman emeritus Ahmet Ertegun, who died last December. The band recorded for Atlantic its entire career.
The Who’s Pete Townshend, former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Paolo Nutini will also perform at the event. Profits will benefit the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which provides scholarships to universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Ertegun’s homeland, Turkey.
Tickets costing £125 ($254) will be allocated on a lottery basis through the Ahmettribute.com web site. Billboard.com understands there are no plans to broadcast or commercially release music from the show.
Putting an end to several months of speculation, it was confirmed today (Sept. 13) during a press conference at the O2 that the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin — Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — would reunite onstage for just the third time in 27 years. The drummer for the evening will be Jason Bonham, son of the band’s original drummer John Bonham, who died from a heart attack in 1980.
Source Billboard