Robert Plant Finally Gets $10 Concert Fee From Early Days
Robert Plant finally received a $10 concert fee he’d been owed since the ‘70s, as he shared a joke with an old friend.
The money was handed over by Rod MacSween, founder of the ITB booking agency, at a ceremony held by the University of Exeter to give MacSween an honorary degree.
The university reported that MacSween was a student there in the ‘60s and was elected to be social secretary of the student’s guild. “During that time, he booked artists who were in their early musical careers like Pink Floyd and Robert Plant’s Band of Joy,” notes the report.
“Plant joined Rod MacSween, one of the world’s most successful agents, onstage as his achievements were recognized. MacSween joked he had still not paid Plant for a concert he played in the 1970s, and offered him a £10 note, which he came onstage to collect. Plant joked this wasn’t enough, and told his friend it had been ‘great sharing my adventures with you.’”
A picture accompanying the report showed MacSween in his honorary doctor’s robes while Plant stood beside him, grasping the money.
Even though the report mentioned the '70s, Plant and drummer John Bonham left Band of Joy to co-found Led Zeppelin in 1968. Plant reactivated the group's name in 2010, after the one-off Led Zeppelin reunion three years earlier, with a new lineup including Patty Griffin. The original band featured Dave Pegg, who later joined Jethro Tull. Future Slade frontman Noddy Holder was a roadie.