Robert Plant (born August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England) is a British singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Plant’s dynamic vocal range and flamboyant stage presence has distinguished him as a popular and influential rock and roll front man. Since the dissolution of Led Zeppelin, he has pursued an adventurous solo career, including forays into bluegrass music and early rock and roll.Plant was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England, to Robert C. Plant, a civil engineer, and Annie Celia (née Cain) Plant, who was of Romany descent. Young Plant grew up in nearby Worcestershire and came of age amid a vibrant music scene. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School, though he dropped out before graduating. As a teenager, he sang in a number of bands, and he idolized rock and roll and blues music artists such as Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Under pressure from his parents to pursue a career as a chartered accountant, Plant left his childhood home at age 16. After staying with various friends, he moved to Walsall, Staffordshire, with his girlfriend Maureen Wilson. While working a day job in road construction, he founded (1966) the rock group Band of Joy, which included his friend and future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The band had fizzled by the spring of 1968. Later that year, Plant and Wilson married and had their first child; they would have two more children before divorcing in 1983.
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