Today is Jimmy Page’s 76th birthday.
If you don’t think he’s the greatest, you’re not cool.
Or perhaps I’m not cool because I’ll be seeing seven Led Zeppelin tribute shows in the next six weeks.
But that’s what Page did when he invented Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin infected listeners with a kind of cosmic energy. You can’t get enough. One minute you’re a kid listening to Herman’s Hermits on the radio. In the next, “Communication Breakdown” rips your head off, and you’re never the same.
If Page isn’t the best guitarist ever, he’s certainly the most inventive. He doubled down on his inventiveness with his unparalleled work as a producer.
I’d love to see Page play live one more time. I don’t think that will happen. He’s the interview I’d most like to get. I don’t think that will happen.
But Page's music will never disappear. The audio and video will live forever. People will still be listening to Led Zeppelin in a hundred years. That’s not only thanks to Page’s original work, but his diligence in serving as the brand’s curator.
Happy birthday, Jimmy. You changed things. Not many really do.