Jimmy Page

James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is most recognized as the lead guitarist and founding member of Led Zeppelin; however, before the group’s formation he was England’s most sought after session guitarist. Page was largely self-taught, learning his craft by listening to records of guitar idols Scotty Moore and James Burton. Plant was also highly influenced by blues musicians like B.B. King and Buddy Guy as well as skiffle style music. Page left school in his early teens to pursue music professionally. He scored gigs backing beat poet Royston Ellis and singer Red E. Lewis and was eventually asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band the Crusaders. However this stint lasted for only a brief time due to Page’s serious bout of glandular fever.

Page fell out of music shortly after and focused his attention on art, enrolling as a student at Sutton Art College. During the course of Page’s enrollment he regularly accompanied bands on stage at the Marquee. At some of the shows he played with Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Page gained the attention of John Gibb and Brian Howard, who sought him out as a studio guitarist for Columbia Graphophone Company. He eventually moved on to Decca records and contributed guitar to the 1963 number one single “Diamonds”.

Page quickly became recognized as a virtuoso studio musician and went on to record records with The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Marianne Faithful, Van Morrison, Nico and Brenda Lee. Page’s schedule as a studio musician was rigorous and endearing. It was not uncommon for him to work 6 days a week recording 3 sessions a day. Page finally got burnt out on this lifestyle and with the departure of the Yardbird’s guitarist Paul Samwell-Smith, he took the opportunity to be his replacement. Page started out as the band’s bass player, but when Chris Dreja moved to bass he took up the role as lead guitarist alongside Jeff Beck.

Beck however left the group not long after Page’s arrival and with his departure the Yardbirds recorded their first album with Page “Little Games”. Though the group started out as a commercial pop band they eventually progressed towards a more experimental hard driving sound. When Keith Relf and Jim McCarty left the group in 1968, Page took the group further in this direction. Page inducted Robert Plant as singer, John Bonham as the drummer, and John Paul Jones as the electric bass player. The newly revised band called themselves the New Yardbirds, but later settled on the name Led Zeppelin.

Led Zeppelin went on to release some of the most important rock albums of the decade. Their first album initially received average reviews with Rolling Stone panning it; however it is now recognized as a landmark debut album. The group released a total of 9 studio albums, which were met with great commercial and critical success. All of their albums charted in the top 10 in the Billboard 200 and 6 of those 9 albums made it all the way to #1. Jimmy Page’s contribution both technically and stylistically cannot be overplayed. He continued to introduce new musical concepts and extrapolate old ones in highly original and interesting ways. As an occult enthusiast Page was largely responsible for garnering Led Zeppelin with their dark mystique.

Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980 as a result of the death of their drummer John Bonham. After this tragic event Page at first abstained from playing his guitar. He later emerged in 1982 and began recording material for the soundtracks “Death Wish I” and “Death Wish II”. Page also was intensely involved in philanthropy work and toured with Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck to raise money for sclerosis research. Page collaborated again with Jeff Beck as well as Robert Plant and Nile Rodgers to release an EP under the name the Honeydrippers. After this project Page formed the band the Firm with Free/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers to release two studio albums.

Page was inducted twice in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once in 1992 with the Yardbirds and a second time in 1994 with Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin reformed once again on 10 December 2007 at the O2 Arena in London. Page has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston Massachusetts on 10 May 2014.