Still Carrying Fire @ash-to-ashes - Tumblr Blog

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valendyke

take my quiz and find out who you really were in a past life!

ledbythreads

@keepcalmandcarryfire @ash-to-ashes @girlofthemoon75 @brownskinsugarplum76 @incredifishface

ash-to-ashes

Had to take it twice because my phone was being stupid and got two different answers. First was Victorian orphan boy, second:

@ledbythreads you’re really lucky I had wifi during my flight transfer 😜

la-sanfi

#never seen this one before #robert plant #80s

ri0thouse

happy pride to Robert Plant effectively telling Blender magazine in 2002 “yeah, and also go fuck yourself”

ri0thouse

Went out last night, had a bad big fight Everything seemed to go on wrong I looked up, to my surprise The gal I was with was gone.

Where she went, I don’t know I mean to follow everywhere she goes; Folks say I’m crooked. I didn’t know where she took it I want the whole world to know.

They say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me Sure got to prove it on me; Went out last night with a crowd of my friends, They must’ve been women, ‘cause I don’t like no men.

It’s true I wear a collar and a tie, Makes the wind blow all the while Don’t you say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me You sure got to prove it on me.

Say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me Sure got to prove it on me.

I went out last night with a crowd of my friends, It must’ve been women, ‘cause I don’t like no men. Wear my clothes just like a fan Talk to the gals just like any old man

Cause they say I do it, ain’t nobody caught me Sure got to prove it on me.

ri0thouse

you think Robert Plant is gay?? Sorry!! He's most assuredly straight!!! He was strutting his stuff for all the chicks that came out to see them play!!!

Nah Robert's bi--he's definitely into women but has pretty openly been into dudes too. A modest amount of digging makes it pretty obvious he and Jimmy were lovers for at least part of Zeppelin's career, and he talked about it publicly more than once in the 70s while the band was together, additionally wrote substantial lyrics that were openly addressed to men! It's not something most people know, I think because of bi erasure generally (people assume that if a guy likes women it means he doesn't also like men) and also because of the way Zeppelin have been historicized as a "straight dude band"--which has involved a lot of people turning a willful blind eye to most things about Zeppelin (and also a lot of people lying on their behalf on purpose, because they were at least in part closeted).

Here are links to some posts I've personally made documenting the stuff I've mentioned! Lots of other folks have made others.

Robert's lyrics that are explicitly addressed to a male subject

Robert being unthinkably progressive for an allegedly straight dude in 1977 the height of "disco sucks"

Robert singing about giving blowjobs

Here's also this:

^Lisa Robinson interview, Creem May 1975

Trampled Under Foot is also a song about dicks (and if you don't believe me, take Robert's word for it)

^apologies for not having a citation on hand for this one. But it's also 1975--a New York or Montreal newspaper, I'm not quite sure.

^And also, this bit from this magazine Blender in 2002.

I think it's also one of those things where if you're not a gay person yourself it's less obvious--we know how to recognize people like us even when it's not stated outright because it's a survival skill we've developed over years. And like I said, he's at least officially closeted--LZ came up in a culture that was overwhelmingly homophobic, and to be openly queer could have tanked their careers--so it's totally understandable they weren't out in the open about it (and still aren't). But for those in the know, there's nothing esoteric about it.

Anyway, I'm glad you asked! Happy to link to more info. I could talk for hours about how exactly this band has been canonized as straight and why it’s genuinely fascinating.

EDIT: Just another thing—I get the feeling you might be assuming I’m being derogatory in calling Led Zeppelin a gay band. I can assure you I’m not; I myself am gay, this band is near and dear to my heart for this specific reason, and to openly acknowledge them as queer is, to me, the highest form of praise. If you find this idea challenging, I would suggest sitting with it, and asking yourself why exactly the idea of Robert Plant being a bisexual causes you so much discomfort.

60sfactorygirl

Nico and Patti Smith in Paris, 1976.

twixnmix

Robert Mapplethorpe and Jay Johnson wearing jewelry designed by Robert Mapplethorpe, circa 1970.

Photos by Valerie Santagto

fembutchboygirl

He's a cis man. He's transfem. He's nonbinary. He has 35 genders. He's a cis woman. He's a trans man. Gender, he barely knows her. He's transmasc. He's gnc. He doesn't know what a pronoun is. I didn't say his name but he popped into your head didn't he

ri0thouse

#u mean to tell me this wasnt written about g way?

heateron

lou reed of the velvet underground, 1974.

ri0thouse

dunmertitty

i think my fav lilnasx interaction is when (cis) ppl were accusing him for being transphobic for the pregnancy pics and some comments abt pussy or wtvr and some trans guy made a tweet like “cis ppl accusing lilnasx of being transphobic, meanwhile trans guys all want to breed him” and lilnasx replied smthn like “👀”

dunmertitty

I FOUND IT I FOUND IT

#what #why would that be?…#lil nas x

summerofsmiles

Pinterest always recommends me the most unhinged pictures with absolutely no context.

#robert fohning jimmy’s hair #gayyyyy (complimentary)

mcrbois

You should have raised a baby girl, I should’ve been a better son.

#what is GOING ON

milligramspoison

#gerard?!!!#this is now an mcr blog as well #gerard way

chicago-geniza

my friend posted this on twitter & nobody has ever been more correct

prescription-cactus

what is your eye color. what is your favorite color. what is the color that appears most frequently in your wardrobe. what color is your favorite blanket. what color is your water bottle.

#brown #blue for the rest

romantoy

#what the fuck nobody deserves to be this pretty #taika waititi #my latest celebrity crush

bowieography

VH-1 Storytellers, 1999

Survive

with Gail Ann Dorsey

#best celebrity non-couple #gail ann dorsey #david bowie

ditricha-17

"For 99 percent of the time, Robert was lovely. Once a week, though, he’d have one of his weird days. I’d know we were getting one because on those occasions he’d always come down to the hotel reception in the same clothes, these baggy surfer pants tucked into cowboy boots. Whenever he dressed like that, he was a bit off and he’d give you the run around, becoming the taskmaster again. I don’t know what it was, whether it was hormonal or something." – Chris Blackwell

From Robert Plant: A Life by Paul Rees

^ That was the first part of the post.

Didn't think I'd be so lucky (imitating Robert singing I Should Be So Lucky by Kylie Minogue during Tall Cool One) to find any pic of these infamous "baggy surfer pants tucked into cowboy boots".

For anyone who also got curious whether there was a strong correlation between the T-shirt and the moody pants – there wasn't as Robert wore them with other types of clothes too.

But then I wondered how often he wore the T-shirt. It's quite famous, so to speak, and several photos of it circulate in the Internet.

I don't claim to list every show, only those I've managed to somehow track. There were likely more occasions when he wore it in both 1988 and 1990. Feel free to add :)

So here we go in chronological order!

Worcester, 30/10/1988

"Robert attended Jimmy's Worcester, MA concert Oct 29th and there is photographic proof he wore this shirt at his own concert held in the same venue the very next night, which further substantiates having acquired it at Jimmy's gig." – SteveAJones

Denver, 14/09/1990

"Then I saw him at Red Rocks in Denver in mid September. He didn't wear the Jimmy t-shirt until the encore. It must have been one of the first nights he wore it onstage, as I remember him walking to the microphone, chest out to show off the t-shirt, and not saying a word for what seemed like 2-3 minutes. Then, the band went right into Over the Hills and Far Away for their first encore number." – And You Know How It Is?

Bloomington, 29/10/1990