Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Popdose Contest: Name the New Led Zeppelin Singer!

by Popdose Staff

As you’ve surely heard by now, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham are planning on launching a Led Zeppelin tour and album without Robert Plant, and are “trying out a couple of singers.” They’ve said they aren’t looking for a Plant soundalike, so we thought we’d see if we can’t all put our heads together to come up with a suitably bizarre list of left-field candidates for the job.

We’ll get the ball rolling with three of our favorite choices:

1. Kenny Loggins
2. Clay Aiken
3. Art Garfunkel

Now we want to hear your nominees — and we even have a prize for you: The person who submits our favorite wildly inappropriate fill-in for Robert Plant will receive a brand spanking new copy of The Who at Kilburn: 1977, a DVD release from the Who’s archives that’s reaching shelves on November 18. Follow the link to check out details (and watch a 93-second clip), then help the Led Zep remnants find their new lead singer! You can enter as many times as you like, right here in the comments, and the contest will remain open until we say it’s over. Good luck!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Contests, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • mojo
    I'm not eligible for the contest, but I must put in a good word for...MARTIN FRY (yes!)
  • Neither am I but I must submit Leonard Cohen.
  • David
    Must. be. Karen Carpenter.
  • Morrissey. Contest over.
  • stuff
    Lee Dorian (Napalm death era)
  • Tom Waits
    Dave Gahan
    Andrew Eldritch
  • el bandito
  • David_E
    Ken Nordine.
  • oh my god yes! "we'd like to do a new number called, Word Jazz"
  • One word: WING
  • Dammit, Matt. Now who's cleaning the milk offa my monitor??!!
  • el bandito
    My friends and I used to play a game where we would fill in Peter Tork's name in bands - doesn't sound that fun, but say it out loud - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Tork...making me laugh right now. Vanilla Tork, Anderson, Buford, Wakeman and Tork...alright I'll stop, but you get the idea. Think how different these bands would have been with Peter Tork...one more...Emerson, Lake and Tork.

    PETER TORK...Led Zeptork
  • Daniel MacMaster!
  • Um... he's dead. Then again, so is Karen Carpenter, so carry on.
  • Sarah McLachlan.
  • Lalaha
    Bjork - her outlandish swan outfit at the Oscars was a desperate cry of her inner Swan Song!
  • Or the singer for the Fred Zeppelin, whosoever he may be! Else, Jon Anderson.
  • E
    1) Stanley from Life, Sex & Death
    2) Tortelvis. Of course.
  • JonCummings
    Charo.
  • MC
    Ann Wilson (Heart) or
    Cindy Wilson (B-52s)
  • i heard Steve Albini was interested...
  • Give me Shatner or give me death!
  • DIE!!!!!
  • I vote for Michael McDonald, since both he and Robert Plant are only occasionally intelligible.
  • Ian
    Easy! Sarah Palin. Who wouldn't want to see her invite all the Joe Six-Packs in the audience to squeeze her lemon till the juice runs down her leg? She could also do the "(I Hate) Immigrant(s) Song" and "Communication Breakdown". I can even visualise the fantasy sequence in the inevitable concert DVD, she arrives in the wilderness with a bow and arrow, kills all the animals in the forest, then God appears, sheds a mysterious cloak, only to reveal Sarah's own wizened (though still unexplainably attractive) face. This would all happen during her half-hour tambourine solo on "Living Loving Hockey Mom".
  • JohnHughes
    I'm excusing myself from the contest, but I had to suggest Fred Schneider:

    "Hey, hey, Mama, like the way you MOVE!
    Gonna make you DANCE! Gonna make you....GROOVE!"
  • RLB
    I will never listen to Zepplin quite the same way.
  • JimStocker
    The surviving member of Milli Vanelli. Led Zepanelli
  • EightE1
    Russell Hitchcock, Kenny Rogers, or Pat Boone, baybee. Booney already covered "Stairway," so you know he can bust out tha metal shit.

    Rob
    EightE1
  • Anthony Hansen
    First off, Fred Schneider would be AMAZING.

    Secondly, I nominate Shooby Taylor.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MutYIgL4Gbk

    Of course, he's dead now, so the tour would have to be credited to Led Zep and Zombie Shooby.
  • jbacardi
    Joanna Newsom.

    Elton John.

    Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

    Maria Muldaur.

    Ringo.

    Me.

    I can do this all night...
  • Wildly inappropriate. I say - ME.
  • MC
    How about John McRea of Cake. He really knocked it out of the park when he covered Black Sabbath's War Pigs...
  • spy12
    inappropriate... how about celine dion or vanilla ice
  • Steven
    IAN ASTBURY!!!!

    The man had the gall to try to fill Jim Morrison's leather pants by singing with the Doors so why not take on another ridiculous challenge by replacing the GOLDEN GOD.

    How many people would possibly be egotistical enough to step onstage and assume anyone could possibly replace one of rock's great legends?

    The only thing more ridiculous than replacing Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin is Gene Simmons concept of replacing all of the original members of KISS. (and for the record, I am actually a fan of that band.)
  • JonCummings
    Dolly Parton. Heck, she's already covered "Stairway to Heaven"...
  • chadwicktron
    1. Johnny (Rotten) Lydon, 2. Dennis DeYoung, 3. Ray Stevens, 4. Cher, and 5.Mark Mothersbaugh.
  • breadalbane
    Alison Krauss.

    Not only would she be fantastic, it would piss off R. Plant to no end.
  • breadalbane
    But should Ms. Krauss be unavailable due to some sort of touring commitment or something....


    Leon Redbone. Seriously, wouldn't that be awesome?

    (strum, strum, strum, strum)
    "Ooooh, if it keeps on rainin, the levee's gwine to break"
    (strum, strum, strum, strum)

    (continued strumming through bass saxophone solo)



    Leon Zeppelin? Led Redbone? Whatever yoou wanna call it, I'd pay money to see it.

    Plus, the guy knows hundreds of songs by obscure old blues artists that the band could rip off. Er, I mean contemporize. Er, I mean graciously give proper credit to. Eventually. After a court order.
  • E
    OK, that inspired me to throw Albert Kuvezin from Yat-Kha on the table.

    If his "Whole Lotta Love" is anywhere as near as good as his "Orgasmatron" ...
  • Eric S.
    The obvious choice is David St. Hubbins. He's got the hair, and the crossover medley possibilities are endless: Kashmir/Stonehenge, Whole Lotta Love/ Big Bottom ....
  • MichaelFortes
    Engelbert Motherfucking Humperdinck.
  • Maxus
    Ruth Pointer.
  • Jon Stevens of Noiseworks!
  • Elaine
    1. Leona Lewis
    2. Gary Cherone
    3. Bo Bice

    no?
  • Old_Davy
    1. Roger Waters - As appealing as it might be to meld two of the biggest acts of the 70's into one, and indeed it should draw quite a crowd to the shows, it would be a terrible combination.

    2. Since death does not seem to be a discounting circumstance, may I suggest Dan Fogelberg?
  • rockrdude
    Brian Setzer would be a hoot.

    But really.. if they're going to do this right:

    Led Zeppelin + Paul Rodgers
  • Jon
    Who was that terrible singer that actually had an album produced after he got booted from 'American Idol'?

    William HUNG!!


    He must be looking for a band!
  • MC
    OK, there is only one fair way to decide: Call Mark Burnett and start the ball rolling with Rock Star: Led Zeppelin
  • dcincinci
    In all seriousness, Glenn Hughes. The former lead singer for Trapeze and Deep Purple would do Zep's music justice. Plus he's a great bass player and that would free up John Paul Jones to play keyboards exclusively on certain songs.
  • eddie
    Michael Jackson would be really good. I love the mashup of his ABC vocal over Zep's Heartbreaker (seek ye ABC Breaker by DJ Moule)
  • Dan
    Tay Zonday. Composer and performer of Chocolate Rain. Imagine him belting out - "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."
  • Randy Marlin
    The one and only logical choice (and he's still around and singing) is the man who was Jimmy's first choice to begin with - Terry Reid. Wouldn't that be cool.
  • Eric
    I'm really and truly surprised no one's said Richard Marx yet.
    Seems like an obvious choice to me...
  • RLB
    It's been 18 hours and no one's made a Rick Astley joke? Phew.
  • Wammer
    Oddly enough, this guy could probably pull it off! Saw him open for They Might Be Giants a while back:

    CORN MO!!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ND2EQcACns
  • Thierry
    Josh Groban. Can't you hear that vibrato all over "Immigrant Song"?

    Otherwise, Michael W. Smith would be a good fit too, no? Or maybe, if you absolutely need British royalty, Sir Cliff Richard.

    Then again, we all know who the perfect choice would be: David Archuleta.
  • Anthony Hansen
    I've got another one: Donald Fagen. Just the thought of him singing Whole Lotta Love makes me very, very uncomfortable.
  • This contest is still going on? Very well. May I further suggest:
    1) Mark Mothersbaugh
    2) Robert Smith
    3) David Thomas (of Pere Ubu)
    4) Michael McDonald
    5) Yoko Ono
  • RoyBatty
    1. Howard Stern
    2. Bruce Springsteen
    3. Lou Reed
    4. Corey Feldman
  • Chuck B.
    After reading the 60 previous entries, I don't feel too out of sorts suggesting Tony Bennett singing "I Can't Quit You Babe". Think about it.
  • hooty
    Paul McCartney
  • chadwicktron
    chadwick, again. Is Mac Davis or Rex Smith available? How about Michael Des Barres?
  • Daniel Bedingfield
    Daniel Powter
    Bowie
    Jakob Dylan
    Tom Jones
  • MC
    If I remember that "Behind the Music" episode correctly, Leif Garrett always wanted to sing classic rock n' roll songs, right? This could be the break he's been looking for.
  • luffy66
    Paul Stanley- I win!
  • Mazzie
    Kenny Loggins....Clay Aiken....Art Garfunkel?? A list consisting of Michael Bolton & Garth Brooks would have sounded better than that load of hot mess. You can't possibly place those people in a band like Led Zeppelin! I'm thinking more along the lines of Scott Weiland, Chris Robinson, Jack White or Cedric Bixler Zavala.

    But I'm willing to bet that it will be someone completely new and unheard of....which would be even better!
  • Um.

    We were joking.
  • jbacardi
    Actually, Bolton and Brooks are good suggestions! Make Brooks wear his Chris Gaines disguise.
  • Crystal M
    Macy Gray. seriously...
  • As you may know, David Coverdale front man for white snake is surely the logical choice to replace Robert and if he takes the stage; I will most likely go to the show and this comment comes from a man that bares the swan song logo on his shoulder; placed there in 1977 after the bands last tragic appearance at day on the green; you could call me a die hard Zepp Fan!!!

    When I had band practice, last Friday my band mates and I got drunk and listened to the catalog of Robert's work and I must say he will be missed!! Hey and Robert if you read this and you need a guitar and or bass player for your band let me know I would ready dig working with you!!!

    Take Care,

    Stu
  • jimmy
    Paul Cantara
  • rob
    I agree completely
  • erick
    robert goulet......need i say more?
  • bojo
    ben linus
  • RedWing442
    Liza Minnelli -- There first song she'll change it around, "And I'm Buying The Stairway To Heaven Bitches!!!"
    Or for the left field of Plant-a-clones, Lenny Wolf of Kingdom Come
  • If Zeppelin wants a veteran singer/songwriter/frontman who does not sound like Plant, they should consider me: Billy "Harp" Hamilton. Photos/videos/bio etc. at www.thelowridersband.com and www.myspace.com/lowridersband.
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