- Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant shares his favourite albums and tracks of 2025.
- He highlights hill‑country blues, Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series and Florence + The Machine.
- Plant also reflects on his new band Saving Grace and recent live shows.
Robert Plant names his records of the year
Robert Plant, the singer best known as the voice of Led Zeppelin, has revealed a roundup of the music he’s been listening to in 2025. The selection, published by MOJO, ranges from northern Mississippi hill‑country blues to contemporary pop and archival Bob Dylan recordings.
Hill‑country blues and American roots
Plant describes a renewed interest in the hill‑country blues tradition — a strand of American roots music that didn’t make the migration to Chicago and kept its own raw, rhythmic character. He flags Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes’ performance of “Train Train” (from the album Cypress Grove) as a standout, and also cites records by Robert Belfour and Junior Kimbrough.
Blues, zydeco and R.L. Burnside
Other favourites include R.L. Burnside’s “Let My Baby Ride” and a recent Clifton Chenier tribute cut — “Zydeco Sont Pas Salés” — performed by Steve Riley, an accordionist Plant praises for his skill. Plant explains how the blues travelled and evolved as it moved north and across regions, and how those regional variants have fascinated him this year.
From Florence + The Machine to Bob Dylan
On the contemporary side, Plant singled out Florence + The Machine’s track “One Of The Greats” from the record Everybody Scream, calling it a song that struck him with intense feeling. He also applauded the newly released archival collection Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window 1956–1963 from Bob Dylan, calling the material “mind‑altering” and noting Dylan’s ongoing live dates.
Saving Grace and live highlights
The list arrives as Plant continues to tour and record with his new band, Saving Grace. MOJO’s four‑star review of the group’s debut album and coverage of their Eastbourne show are linked in the original piece — the album blends blues, alt‑country and folk covers and has drawn strong praise.
Plant also recalls a memorable night at Chicago’s Checkerboard Lounge, where Junior Wells introduced Led Zeppelin and the band famously stood up in the crowd. That anecdote underlines how these records — old and new — connect to decades of live music history that still informs Plant’s listening and performing today.
For full details of Plant’s picks and to read MOJO’s review of Saving Grace, see MOJO’s original feature: Robert Plant’s Records Of The Year. The MOJO review of the Saving Grace album is here: Saving Grace review.
Image Referance: https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/stories/robert-plants-favourite-albums-of-2025/