10 Greatest Hard Rock Frontmen Of The '70s

Throughout most of the '60s, rock was still known as a bit of a kiddie genre. While the Beatles were definitely pushing the boundaries for what rock would become later down the line, there was always that one foot trailing back into the more radio-friendly arena. Once you heard Led Zeppelin though, things were about to change really quickly.

It's pretty strange to consider that though, given how much of Zeppelin's lineage comes from the blues. Compared to the other hard rock bands at the time, Robert Plant was just doing a refreshing update of the old blues belters, with a range that fit somewhere between Howlin Wolf and Janis Joplin. However, once you paired that with the riffs of Jimmy Page, Plant's operatic wail became something entirely different. Instead of the traditional laments of the past, Plant sounded like he was about to unleash the hounds of war whenever he took to the stage.

Ever since Zeppelin's dissolution, almost every other hard rock band following in their footsteps have taken a page from Plant's playbook, from the epic stories he would tell in his lyrics to the Golden God persona that he radiated whenever the stage lights caught him. Whereas some artists might try aping this style for themselves, it takes a master's touch to actually get to this level of performance.