What was the name of the rock band formed by Jimmy Page?

What was the name of the rock band formed by Jimmy Page? Led Zeppelin is the first name that comes to mind for many people.

Led Zeppelin was a band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page alongside singer Robert Plant, drummer John Bonham, and bassist John Paul Jones. The band initially began after Page, and Yardbirds bassist Chris Dreja tried to form a new incarnation of the Yardbirds after drummer Jim McCarty and vocalist Keith Relf gave them the authority to continue using the band's name to fulfill touring obligations after they left the band.

Page and Deja started putting a new lineup, with Page's first choice for guitarist being Terry Reid, who unfortunately declined. However, Reid suggest another singer, Robert Plant, who was known as the singer for bands like Band of Joy and Hobbstweedle.

Plant then recommended his Band of Joy drummer John Bonham to join as well, and he did. Though the band seemed complete, Dreja dropped along the way to pursue photography, which left the position of bassist open. 

A bassist named John Paul Jones then enquired about the vacancy at the behest of his wife. Page, who had known Jones since his session musician days agreed to let him join the band, and the immortal Zeppelin lineup was formed.

The band played for the first time In August 1968, and their chemistry locked in from that first performance onward. They continued the Scandinavian tour that the Yardbirds had meant to complete as the New Yardbirds the following month.

The band had to then change their name as Dreja had sent a cease and desist letter as the band was only authorized to use the name "The New Yardbirds" for those Scandinavian tour dates, and Led Zeppelin was formed.

From those modest beginnings, Led Zeppelin went on to become an influential band that would change the face of rock music. They became the pioneers of a new form of rock music called Hard Rock, which took the sound of rock and pop rock, added some blues influences, and went harder and faster than most other bands like them. 

The lineup of Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham would be the only lineup in the decade-long history of the band's career. They would go on to release eight studio albums from 1969 to 1979.

Their first four albums were all self-titled, with Led Zeppelin one and two coming out in 1969. These two albums are beloved for setting the tone and theme of the sound the band would go onto perfect.

They mixed reworkings and covers of old blues songs with their rawer sound with the first becoming a huge success. The second also followed the same method but was a lot heavier, with the band also writing six of the nine songs on the album.

Led Zeppelin III was more folksy than the previous two albums and had a few acoustic songs too. Despite that, it was well received and showed that the band was capable of making new sounds.

But it's the fourth album that turned the band from capable musicians to Rock gods. This album is called Led Zeppelin IV for posterity's sake as it was initially Untitled.

Featuring one of the greatest rock songs of all time "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin IV is not only the band's best-selling album but also a testament to their sound. Its legacy has surpassed its era and turned the band immortal.

They then released Houses of the Holy in 1973, which was their first album not to match the critical acclaim of their past four albums. However, the album was commercially successful and has since been rightfully reclaimed as part of their classics.

Physical Graffiti followed in 1975 and matched the critical and commercial acclaim of their first four albums. It is also believed by many to be their magnum opus as much as the fourth album. 

Their next two albums, Presence in 1976, and In Through the Out Door in 1979 are seen as lesser albums compared to their previous work, though they have their defenders. Sadly, the band ended when drummer John Bonham passed away on September 25, 1980, aged 32.

Famous for their hard living, drinking, and drug-fueled lifestyle, Bonham, being the most reckless among them, was the first and thankfully, final victim. The rest of the band disbanded Led Zeppelin in his honor, feeling it was impossible to continue the band without him.

Led Zeppelin released one last album, a compilation called Coda, in 1982, and has since released no new peace of music as a band.

Jimmy Page formed The Firm four years after Led Zeppelin disbanded. It is made up of Page, Paul Rodgers, Chris Slade, and Tony Franklin.

Like in Zeppelin, Page played the guitar while Paul Rodgers sang, Chris Slade played the drums, and Tony Franklin played the bass. The Firm was a supergroup of sorts as two of the four members were part of other popular rock groups.

Rodgers was from the Hard Rock band Bad Company and had disbanded two years after Zeppelin in 1982. Slade and Franklin on the other hand were both prominent session musicians, though Slade would go on to play for AC/DC in the late 80s.

The Firm began due to Jimmy Page's restlessness. After Zeppelin disbanded, the guitarist felt lost, and would often hang around Rodgers' house to take a look at his home studio.

This led to Page and Rodgers writing songs, and Page eventually wanted to start a band with Rodgers. As they were both adamant about not playing their old material, the two began to put a band together. 

After recruiting Slade and Franklin, Page and Rodgers began working on an album, and their self-titled debut came out on March 2, 1985. They would follow up that album with their second and last album, Mean Business.

Though nowhere near as successful as Page and Rodgers' previous bands, they managed to chart a song from each album to the top of the US Rock charts. These two songs were Radioactive from the first record, which also managed to climb up to number 28 on the Hot 100, and All the King's Horses on the second record, which managed to make it up to number 61 on the main chart.

The band disbanded in 1986, with Plant going back to his solo music, Rodgers rejoining Bad Company, Slade joining AC/DC, and Franklin starting a band called Blue Murder.

Page formed a band/duo with English singer David Coverdale. The band lasted only for one album, released on March 15, 1993.

Like Rodgers, Coverdale is also a singer known for his work with previous bands. However, unlike Rodgers, Coverdale gained fame as the lead singer of two prominent bands, the hard rock pioneers Deep Purple, and the hair metal wonders, White Snake. 

The band and its one album came about after David Coverdale put his band, White Snake, on indefinite hold after a 1990 tour. Page had also been looking for a collaborator to focus on his solo career. 

Geffen Records A&R executive John Kalodner then suggested the two singers, who were both signed to the label, work together. Despite never having met, the two were interested and eventually met.

Page and Coverdale then had a famous meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York on March 1991. The meeting is famous for stopping traffic due to onlookers trying to catch the artists together.

The duo decided to take the whole process slowly to flesh out the songs and concepts as much as they could. They were later joined by session drummer Denny Carmassi, and bassist Ricky Phillips, rounding up the band. 

Their first performance was when they joined the band, Poison, onstage in May 1991, and performed a rendition of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll. Page and Coverdale took almost two years to write and record the album and released it in 1993. 

Though the album was met with a mixed critical reception, it was a commercial success and became certified silver in the UK within a month of its release. It also reached number five on the Billboard 200. 

The band ended up touring only in Japan for a brief bit, as the rise of Grunge made venues hesitant to book two older rockstars. Coverdale and Page also had some friction with the former believing that the latter did not want to tour as much as him. 

Though Coverdale and Page were keen on continuing to work together, the project, and the band, abruptly ended in 1994. They have not collaborated since.

Page reunited with his former bandmate Robert Plant shortly before the dissolution of Coverdale-Page. They then formed Page and Plant.

The band was active from 1994 to 1998 and featured Page and Plant alongside Charlie Jones on bass, and Michael Lee on drums. Page and Plant first reunited for an MTV Unplugged show in 1994 where they played Zeppelin songs.

They then released a live album called No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded which went on to become certified platinum. The live album featured middle-eastern influenced covers of old Led Zeppelin songs as well as some new material.

The success of the live album led to Plant and Page embarking on a world tour which was also the unofficial beginning of the band. It was during this tour that Page and Plant added Charlie Jones and Michael Lee to the band as they were the touring members. 

They kept touring up until 1997, then took a break to start recording a studio album that would go on to be called Walking into Clarksdale. The album would be recorded by famed Grunge producer Steve Albini and be released on April 21, 1998.

The album was a commercial success, though paling in comparison to their live album, No Quarter. Still, it was certified gold as it sold over 500,000 copies. 

However, the album featured their best-remembered song as a band, Most High, which was critically acclaimed, and even won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. Despite not surpassing the success of No Quarter, the album was successful enough that the band embarked on a world tour with over 97 tour dates in North America and Europe.

Sadly, the tour would also spell the end of the band as an entity. Plant left the band after the tour to focus on other projects. 

He has since stated that he didn't like playing stadiums and wanted to go back to playing clubs. Page, on the other hand, had already written songs for a follow-up album, but sadly it will most likely never materialize.

The band did get together to play one last time in 2001, at the Montreux Jazz Festival. However, Page and Plant seem to be done for good.

The guitarist has not formed any bands since then.