Did Phil Collins RUIN the 'Led Zeppelin Reunion' at Live Aid 1985?

In this video I explore the whole "Phil Collins ruined the Led Zeppelin reunion" headline that was plastered all across major publications after the "Live Aid" music festival concluded. In my opinion? No... Phil had no part in why that "reunion" failed. Just watch the video and get some perspective with actual recountings from the man himself Mr. Phil Collins.

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#philcollins #ledzeppelin #liveaid

[DancingwithGhosts]

**Unfortunately, YouTube finally found a piece of my video that they wanted to copyright strike, which is weird because it normally tells you right away when you upload it so you can go in and fix the copyright issue. Anyway, the portion of the video where I actually showed the members of Zeppelin getting interviewed and acting smug had to be edited out. My apologies I would have loved to have kept that in. It still exists on YouTube though under "Led Zeppelin Live Aid Interview".

[ericjencson]

Jimmy Page was drunk off his ass. That was the problem.

[reubenrozeyt]

Phil Collins drumming wasn't the problem.
Robert's almost black out drunk, voice croaked like a frog
Jimmy was stoned off his t¡ts, his playing is even worse live.
The mixing was terrible

Let's just say it was a good year to be a Queen fan

[jimsteele]

I think Robert Plant's hairstyle ruined the reunion.

[TurfShifter]

Plant's voice was shot and Page was off his tits on booze and drugs. Yeah blame the drummer if you want but those 2 killed that performance without anyone else's help.

[RubesGoodBrainCoffee]

If I might share this here: There is a YouTube channel dedicated to Led Zeppelin which painstakingly documents how Led Zeppelin's subpar performance was NOT Phil Collins' fault. As much as Jimmy Page and the Zeppelin fans might want to blame everything on Collins, anyone with the slightest objectively should know better.

[anthonycraig]

Funny how Phil Collins had played a set with Eric Clapton just before Led Zeppelin and it was faultless with both drummers. In fact Clapton's performance was quite rightly regarded as one of the best of the day. The band were on form having been touring at the time. Meanwhile Led Zep weren't touring and somehow Phil gets the blame...

[mancuniancandidatem]

Plant and Page only needed themselves to ruin this performance. Phil was the least of their worries.

[whiskeywolfgang]

One thing I'll always love about Phil Collins is how down to earth he was as a celebrity. He just played the biggest concert in the world, in two continents on the same day, and he knows he's going to be ragged on for the poor reunion. And at the end of it all, the only thing going through his mind is "poor interviewer, he's probably nervous because of the huge audience watching him fumble live. Let me try to help him out."

[FloweredUp-nt]

No. Plant's voice, Page's terrible guitar sound and obvious intoxication coupled with under rehearsal and a tired sound crew ruined Led Zeppelin's performance at Live Aid.

[CKT]

Wait, there are people who genuinely think PHIL ruined the Zed Zeppelin reunion?
You can see clearly in the footage that Phil is actually trying to do things correctly despite limited rehearsal, and that he's visibly irritated at Jimmy, who is clearly wasted.
Robert Plant is trying but he is not properly warmed up for the material.
It's definitely not Phil's fault, not by a long shot.

[sydhamelin]

As a drummer myself, my 2 go-to drummers a Budgie from Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Phil, from the PG era Genesis. The drumming on Lamb Lies Down is possibly the most creative, best produced drums, for album oriented rock, or rock in general, including sub-genres.

Phil gets so much shit, because he leaned so heavily into pop and was really good at it. It's like people took his street cred card card because 'One More Night' was estrogen driven than Barbara Streisand's entire catalog. But I contend that you judge the man by his peaks, not his valleys. And I even say that you give him his due. I don't care for his soft pop stuff, but he clearly had the ability to write those #1 ballads, and still write heavy hitting pop songs like 'In the Air Tonight', or, to me, a banger like 'Take Me Home'.

And you cannot take his street cred card - this guy hammered out Apocalypse in 9/8, on the screaming 20+ minute 'Supper's Ready', where he turns the drums into total chaos, that he somehow manages to control around Bank's 4/4 keys solo. Brilliance.

[Murdon-tepx]

I remember watching Live Aid during the summer of 1985. I was 15 and me my friends, along with the rest of the world, were pretty excited about the so called Led Zeppelin reunion. None of us saw them live in the 70s, we were all to young. Also, we thought it was cool that Phil Collins would be playing drums because we all liked Genesis too. My friends and I enjoyed their three song set. I remember thinking that it wasn’t the best thing I have ever heard but it was great to see the three remaining members of Zeppelin play together and Phil on drums was a bonus. It was interesting to hear Phil’s perspective of the Live Aid show.

[haroldk]

Never heard Phill Collins' point of view on this interaction before. Seems like all around this was a poorly planned thing regarding his role in it. And when he said he was not going to practice, it would have been better for him to say I can't play in this because if I don't practice, then I can't be sure I am in sink and even know what is going on in the set. Saying he just came off a tour and wants some family time is not an excuse. If vacation is what is most important, then do that. He should have realized Led Zeppelin have not played together for years, and practice is imperative. It sounds like Plant and Page knew this and did practice with Thompson. Look at Queen, neither had they been together for a while due to their internal problems, but when they decided to do this show, they put that aside and practiced until they were back on their game again. So yeah, Collins did throw a wrench into this. It's not the only wrench that made this reunion much less than it should have been, but it was one of them. If there was alcohol consumption going on, that should have been put off until afterward, and any other substance. But practice for two weeks down to the smallest detail was needed here, and it did not happen. To include the guy who used to tune Jimmy Page's guitars back in the 70s would have been a nice added detail that would have made a difference in how this sounded. And the right technicians to get the equipment right. Bottom line, whoever was in this should have practiced. Even bands who are together and touring still have to practice and do sound checks.

[edriley]

Phil speaks the truth here. Its disturbing how the Zeppelin members totally fucked this event up. And i love Zeppelin.

[arnesaknussemm]

No, this was not Page’s greatest moment and the attempt to shift the blame was disgusting.

[ademyers]

Rest assured, if there's ever a Led Zep biopic, the final scene won't be that shambolic Live Aid set

[rayroofy]

Collins did the right thing by not getting in the way. The whole set was chaotic. Don't drink and drive. Don't drink and play guitar either, especially on a big reunion night.
Collins is a pro. Song writer, drummer, and vocalist. Listen to that tone on "Jesus he knows me". 👏👏

[christianzafiroglu]

Phil Collins didn’t ruin Live Aid.

Heroin ruined Jimmy Page
A hoarse voice ruined Robert Plant
Resentment ruined Jonesy

Lack of rehearsal ruined Tony Thompson and Phil Collins.

And bless Phil Collins for trying to rescue that poor interviewer. God, Paget and Percy could be arrogant when together.

[reallyretro]

Jimmy Page being wasted, and still in the midst of his heroin addiction had something to do with the reunion being a colossal flop. Blaming Phil for his drumming is the easy thing to do for a lot of people, simply because they are not a fan of him or his music.