Led Zeppelin Not Dumb Enough to Turn Down $800 Million

Chances are, you heard the very popular rumor floating around this week that Virgin CEO, the staggeringly wealthy Richard Branson, offered the surviving members of Led Zeppelin $800 million dollars to do a thirty-five date reunion tour. I didn’t write about it about it smelled like bullshit right from the get-go: sure, if I had as much money as Branson does, getting Led Zep to reunite would be a fun way to use some of that fortune (and very likely a good business investment). But the rumor included these totally absurd details:

• Robert Plant allegedly literally tore a contract up in Branson’s face.
• The tour would have hit England, Germany, and… New Jersey.

So, basically, we were being asked to believe that Richard Branson presented the members of the band with this totally insane offer not via their managers, booking agents, and attorneys, but during the course of some conveniently cinematic meeting at his office, where Robert Plant not only turned down enough money to buy an actual armata of lead zeppelins, but did so in the most dramatic, most insultingly rude manner possible. I might have bought this story if it they had further alleged that right before tearing up the contract, Plant declared, “I am NEVER going to New Jersey!!!” But asking me to believe he took some kind honorable, anti-capitalist stance? And do you have a bridge you’d like to sell me, too?

So, not entirely shocking news: Branson says that the rumor is, indeed, total bullshit. Branson made the denial using some stupendously clever wordplay on his blog:

“I’ve been left dazed and confused by a story doing the rounds this week about us apparently offering Led Zeppelin £500 million to reform and carry out a tour. As much as I love the band, there is absolutely no truth to the story.”

He goes on to say Robert Plant also denies the story. It’s a little weird that we’re supposed to take his word for it that Plant says it’s not true (why didn’t Plant just release his own statement?), but, again, the story was never really believable in the first place, so whatever.

So, yeah, if you were hoping to travel to beautiful, scenic New Jersey for a Led Zep concert sometime, you’re shit outta luck.

[via Metal Injection]

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