New Led Zeppelin Documentary To Give Fans A “Whole Lotta Love”

Director Bernard MacMahon has announced the title for his new documentary, “Becoming Led Zeppelin.”

Led Zepplin | Credit: Rolling Stone

“Becoming Led Zeppelin is a film that no one thought could be made,” MacMahon said in a statement.

“The band’s meteoric rise to stardom was swift and virtually undocumented. Through an intense search across the globe and years of restoration of the visual and audio archive found, this story is finally able to be told.” 

Led Zeppelin is one of the most influential rock bands of all time. With timeless hits such as “Stairway to Heaven”, “Whole Lotta Love”, and “Immigrant Song”. The band shredded throughout the world from 1868 to 1980, when the legendary drummer John Bonham suddenly died. Bonham was considered to be the “heartbeat” of the group.

Led Zeppelin forever influenced rock music and bands as big as Queen and Aerosmith. The band has also been said to be the co-creator of the heavy metal genre.

The Direction of the Documentary

The documentary will follow the journey of the band members as they move through the music scene of the 1960s. Playing small British clubs and performing some of the biggest hits of the era until their paths cross in the summer of 1968 for a rehearsal that changes their lives forever. 

Together, they set out to tour America with a show that culminated in 1970 when they became the number one brand in the world. Fans can expect “unprecedented access” to the band, in what marks “the first and only time they have participated in a documentary in 50 years.”

A release date for Becoming Led Zeppelin has yet to be revealed. Be that as it may, the film is set to show at the Venice Film Festival this September. If the film is to be showcased in Venice, we can assume that the documentary will release shortly after.

Becoming Led Zeppelin was first announced in 2019. The film will feature interviews with the members of the band: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones. Making it the first film to boast the band’s full backing and participation. 

Archival Extras

The movie will also feature archival interviews with late drummer John Bonham, plus interviews with other artists and previously unseen photographs and video footage. This includes vaults of never before seen archival footage.

John Bonham | Credit: Rolling Stone

Bernard McMahon wants to present this documentary as a magical musical experience. He said,

“I wanted to weave together the four diverse stories of the band members before and after they formed their group with large sections of their story advanced using only music and imagery and to contextualize the music with the locations where it was created and the world events that inspired it.”

McMahon previously directed the 2017 docuseries, American Epic, about the early American roots music recordings of the Twenties. The film earned high praise from Led Zeppelin, with Jimmy Page saying,

“When I saw everything Bernard had done both visually and sonically on the remarkable achievement that is American Epic, I knew he would be qualified to tell our story.” 

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