Top 20 Led Zeppelin Solo Songs

Led Zeppelin was together for only a little over a decade, and they have not musically reunited — or at least fully — since their breakup in 1980.

That means there have been a lot of years in which the former members have been releasing solo projects, sometimes entirely on their own and sometimes with famous collaborators. Their output ranges in quantity — Jimmy Page only has one official solo album to his name, while Robert Plant has over 10 of them. John Paul Jones, meanwhile, has often teamed up with other artists, as well as composed a number of film soundtracks.

John Bonham died in 1980 — part of the catalyst for Led Zeppelin’s breakup that year — but he’s also still a part of the below list featuring the Top 20 Led Zeppelin Solo Songs.

20. “Everybody Clap,” Lulu (With John Bonham)
From: 1971 Single

When you are Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, you have friends in high places. In 1971, Gibb and fellow singer-songwriter Billy Lawrie co-wrote a song called “Everybody Clap” for Gibb’s then-wife and Lawrie’s sister, Lulu, to sing. To round out the rhythm section, Gibb called up Jack Bruce of Cream to play bass and Bonham to play drums.

 

19. “Fortune Hunter,” The Firm (With Jimmy Page)
From: Mean Business (1986)

The Firm formed in 1984, featuring singer Paul Rodgers, drummer Chris Slade, bassist Tony Franklin and Page on guitar. Rodgers, for one, knew a thing or two about band breakups having come from Bad Company, but Page’s name really carried some serious wight. “Just to be associated with Led Zeppelin was a big boost, because people would go, ‘Who are these guys?'” Rodgers recalled to Eddie Trunk in 2019. “We weren’t instantly dismissed.” And it turned out that Page got on pretty well with Rodgers songwriting-wise — “Fortune Hunter” is one of several of their co-writes to appear on the Firm’s debut album, Mean Business (1984).

 

18. “When You Fall in Love,” John Paul Jones
From: Scream for Help (1985)

If you’ve never heard Jones take the lead vocal, we would like to direct your attention to “When You Fall in Love,” one of nine tracks he contributed to the soundtrack of Scream for Help, a British horror film directed by Michael Winner. Imagine if Jones had sung some of Led Zeppelin’s songs…

 

17. “Rainbow,” Robert Plant
From: lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar (2014)

Plant has had the most plentiful of all the former Led Zeppelin members’ solo careers. The below track, “Rainbow,” comes from one of his more recent solo albums, lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar. It was recorded with Plant’s then-band the Sensational Space Shifters, and described by Plant himself at the time as “very crunchy and gritty, very West African and very Massive Attack-y.” That certainly comes through in the percussion work on “Rainbow” with traditional instruments like bendirs, djembes and kologos.

 

16. “So Glad to See You Here,” Paul McCartney and Wings (With John Bonham)
From: Back to the Egg (1979)

Bonham was just one of several famous rock musicians to appear on this track by Paul McCartney and Wings from 1979’s Back to the Egg — there was also Ronnie Lane, Bruce Thomas, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour and more. Nevertheless, Bonham has, for decades, stood out in the former Beatles’ mind. When asked by Howard Stern in 2020 about his favorite drummers, he replied: “I’d go Ringo [Starr] top — he’s something else. Second, I’d go Bonzo.”

 

15. “Radioactive,” The Firm (With Jimmy Page)
From: The Firm (1985)

Long after the Firm split up in 1986, Paul Rodgers continued to perform “Radioactive” at his solo concerts, albeit without Page by his side serving up those wah-wah pedal solo bits.  When the Firm made a music video for the song, it marked the first time Page had participated in one since the late ’60s. “People will say ‘Well, there’s the hypocrite,'” he said in a 1985 interview with Chris Welch. “It’s not that. The idea is to go out and have a play and show people who have had a lot of faith in me that I’m ready to work.”

 

14. “Scumbag Blues,” Them Crooked Vultures (With John Paul Jones)
From: Them Crooked Vultures (2009)

John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme walk into a bar. Just kidding — they actually walked into a recording studio in 2009 to release an album under the name Them Crooked Vultures, which would become a Top 15 hit in the U.S. The self-titled release is overall quite strong, but “Scumbag Blues” is particularly fun with a funky clavinet part from Jones.

 

13. “Bluebirds Over the Mountain,” Robert Plant (With Chrissie Hynde)
From: Carry Fire (2017)

Plant just seems to have a knack for singing incredibly well with American women, from Alison Krauss to Patty Griffin to Chrissie Hynde, the lattermost of whom can be heard on his 2017 cover of “Bluebirds Over the Mountain.” That’s another thing Plant has a talent for: covering older American songs. “Bluebirds Over the Mountain” was written in 1958 by the rockabilly singer Ersel Hickey, and recorded later by Richie Valens and the Beach Boys. “I respect and relish my past works, but each time I feel the trawl and incentive to create new work,” Plant said in a statement at the time. “I must mix old with new.”

 

12. “Don’t Freak Me Out,” Jimmy Stevens (With John Bonham)
From: Don’t Freak Me Out (1972)

Jimmy Stevens released exactly one album: 1972’s Don’t Freak Me Out. But he sure did make the most of it, inviting Bonham to play drums on the title track and another song called “Is It Me Babe.” Oh, plus Peter Frampton contributed guitar and Maurice Gibb played bass and organ. If you listen to no other part of this song, let it be Bonham’s drum fill around the 2:30 mark…

 

11. “Leafy Meadows,” John Paul Jones
From: The Thunderthief (2001)

There’s two reasons you’ll want to listen to Jones’ “Leafy Meadows.” For one thing, it’s just plain solid bass work from arguably one of the best bassists in the world. But also, that’s Robert Fripp playing the guitar solo. “What a pleasure,” Fripp wrote in his digital diary on Aug. 4, 1999, referring to a lunch he had with Jones, “talking with an outstanding player of my own generation who has more experience, and a greater breadth and depth of knowledge, than I do. And a nice guy.”

 

10. “Pride and Joy,” Jimmy Page (With David Coverdale)
From: Coverdale-Page (1993)

It sort of makes all the sense in the world that Page would team up with David Coverdale in the ’90s, another powerhouse of a British singer, for an album. “Pride and Joy” was one of 11 songs they co-wrote together, with Coverdale playing acoustic guitar while Page does what he does best on electric, also adding in some dulcimer and harmonica. “I took the creative side of working with Jimmy Page very seriously because I’d been a fan and an admirer of Jimmy Page since way before Zeppelin,” Coverdale told Classic Rock in 2011. “Page is a lovely, lovely, lovely man to work and to socialize with.”

 

9. “Nineteen Forty Eightish,” Roy Harper (With Jimmy Page)
From: Whatever Happened to Jugala? (1985)

The thing about Page is that not only is he a master of rock ‘n’ roll guitar riffs, he also has a way of being able to tell a story with his instrument. Here’s one such example: a nearly 10-minute song called “Nineteen Forty-Eightish” which appeared on Roy Harper’s 1985 album Whatever Happened to Jugula? Yes, it’s a cheeky reference to George Orwell’s dystopian book 1984.

 

8. “Keep Your Hands on the Wheel (Said Marie to the Driver),” Roy Wood (With John Bonham)
From: On the Road Again (1979)

Roy Wood is best known for being the co-founder of not just one band, but three: the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. He also enjoyed a solo career, releasing four of his own albums. On 1979’s On the Road Again, Bonham made a guest appearance. Here he is playing loud and proud on one of the album’s singles, “Keep Your Hands on the Wheel (Said Marie to the Driver).”

 

7. “Burning Down on One Side,” Robert Plant
From: Pictures at Eleven (1982)

Here’s the thing: every solo song of Plant’s is going to remind people at least a tiny bit of Led Zeppelin since there isn’t much the singer can do about those famous vocal cords of his. This was especially true in the early ’80s as Plant found his footing as a solo artist, trying quite hard to separate himself from his history. But with a little help from Phil Collins on the drums, there were songs like “Burning Down on One Side,” which cracked the Top 100 in both the U.K. and U.S.

 

6. “Zooma,” John Paul Jones
From: Zooma (1999)

Jones proved two things with his 1999 solo debut, Zooma. Firstly: it is never too late to start a solo career, even if nearly two decades has passed since the breakup of your band. Secondly: lyrics are lovely, but not required. Zooma is primarily an instrumental album, which is excellent considering your full auditory attention is suggested for a song like “Zooma,” the title track — there is a reason Jones is considered one of the best rock bassists in the world.

 

5. “Wasting My Time,” Jimmy Page
From: Outrider (1988)

To the surprise of many, Page really hasn’t spent much time exploring a solo career post-Led Zeppelin — or at least, not in the way you might expect from one of rock’s most inventive guitarists. In any case, his lone solo album, 1988’s Outrider, featured a number of fruitful collaborations. “Wasting My Time” is one of them, co-written with the fellow English musician John Miles, who also sang lead vocals on it. “We’d both jam and come up with riffs,” Miles recalled to Classic Rock in 2014. “It took a while to get to know him, but we hit it off.”

 

4. “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” Robert Plant (With Alison Krauss)
From: Raising Sand (2007)

Plant and Alison Krauss come from entirely different worlds. He from the land of heavy blues-based rock ‘n’ roll, she from plucky bluegrass-country. And yet, when they came together for the first time in 2007 for Raising Sand, something just seemed to click. With “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” originally written and recorded by the Everly Brothers, Plant and Krauss unequivocally proved that opposites do indeed attract.

 

3. “Tall Cool One,” Robert Plant
From: Now and Zen (1988)

You can take the frontman out of the band, but you cannot take the band out of the frontman, even when he embarks on a solo career. Not to mention, who better to sample on a new song than yourself? This is what Plant did with “Tall Cool One” from 1988’s Now and Zen, which borrowed bits from “Black Dog,” “The Ocean,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Custard Pie” and “Whole Lotta Love.” Oh yeah, and that’s Page playing guitar on it, arguably the only guitarist qualified for this particular job.

 

2. “Emerald Eyes,” Jimmy Page
From: Outrider (1988)

If you took all the best parts of Page’s career as a guitarist with Led Zeppelin and somehow stirred them all into one solo song, it might sound like “Emerald Eyes” from Outrider — polished acoustic rhythm guitar, intercut with mellifluous lead electric guitar. It’s an instrumental that expertly highlights his talent for arrangement, assisted by Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums.

 

1. “Big Log,” Robert Plant
From: The Principle of Moments (1983)

Look, not every ’80s song made using a drum machine aged all that well. “Big Log,” we argue, is an exception. “I was into [British label] 4AD and the stuff that was going on with Jesus and Mary Chain and all that,” Plant said in a 2019 episode of his Digging Deep podcast. “There was just loads and loads of music that I was interested in — that kind of, almost darkened shadow of the music of that time.” “Big Log” turned out to be Plant’s first Top 40 hit as a solo artist, reaching No. 20 in the U.S. and No. 11 in the U.K.