They were supposed to be rehearsing. But on November 6th and 7th — while they waited for guitarist Jimmy Page’s broken finger to heal, so they could resume preparations for their December 10th reunion concert in London — the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin all sat down with Rolling Stone in London for extensive, individual interviews about their unexpected resurrection. Page, bassist John Paul Jones and singer Robert Plant also spoke at length about their past and speculation as to their future together. It was the first time Led Zeppelin, as a band, had spoken to the magazine since the late Seventies. Drummer Jason Bonham — the son of original Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, whose death in 1980 broke up the band — also gave a revealing interview about his father and the emotional weight Jason carries into this reunion.

What follows are additional excerpts from the interviews with Page, Plant and Jason, on the eve of the year’s most anticipated concert, by the band that was blowing minds even before its first album was released, in early 1969. “I remember playing it for my friends before it came out and seeing their jaws drop,” Jones said, laughing, in our interview. “I had these big speakers, sat people down and said, ‘Listen to this.’ And everybody looked like, ‘Bloody hell!’

“It was so exciting — to be making exciting music,” Jones recalled. “You couldn’t say it was this or that. Our different influences and characters, the different types of music we listened to — they all overlapped. And the space inbetween — that was Led Zeppelin.” JIMMY PAGE

One that that always struck me about Led Zeppelin in concert was the empathy you had as a band when you improvised. It wasn’t just jamming but a kind of traveling in consort. Anyone could lead, and the rest would follow.