Lita Ford on Being Asked to Join Led Zeppelin in 1976, “People don’t believe me and think I’m lying about it, but it did happen.” – Robert Plant, Jimmy Page
Lita Ford:
1976″
(L-R) Robert Plant, Lita Ford, Jimmy Page
In 2016, Goldmine asked Ford: You met Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, who came to see the band play at The Starwood in Hollywood. That night they asked you to play bass in Led Zeppelin?
Lita: Well, I loved John Paul Jones and I knew all his bass lines because I can play bass as well as guitar. At that time I knew all of his bass lines. I didn’t know they were having trouble in the band. I had no idea. So all Robert Plant said to me was, “You don’t play bass, do you?” That’s all he said, and I went, “For who?” And he kind of looked around the room and I looked around the room and I walked off. First of all, I didn’t know they were having trouble and I’m a kid and I’m a chick. I’ve already got a band that I fit in and I don’t think I would have fit in Led Zeppelin. People don’t believe me and think I’m lying about it, but it did happen.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ford was asked if she took Plant seriously.
No [laughs]. I didn’t take [Plant] seriously. I thought, “You’re going to replace one of my favorite bass players on the planet with a 17-year-old girl? Are you drunk?” And I walked away! I took it as a compliment, hugged him and we talked about music for a while.
