Robert Plant officially ends Led Zeppelin reunion rumors

I'm so happy that Robert Plant has proven himself to be the smartest -- and most surprisingly smart -- of the aging Rock Gods of yore. According to a message on his website, Plant has no plans to tour within the next two years, and "all the musicians that surround the [Led Zeppelin reunion] story are keen to get on with their individual projects and move forward." Clearly that's not the case for Jimmy "Say, Coverdale / Page wasn't a bad idea" Page, but thank you, Robert Plant, for having the common sense to not butcher those high notes.

And why should he? His collaboration with Alison Krauss has been wildly successful and has yielded a whole new sound and audience for him. In fact, he's the only member of the "old guard" to do anything interesting and relevant in recent memory -- eat your hearts out Mick, Eric and Pete. With any luck, the next two years will see a follow-up from the duo and give some late-career credit to a singer with an amazing feeling for blues that was so often buried by Page's histrionics (and I love Led Zep, but their day had passed well before Bonzo died).

Seriously, how is this version of "Black Dog" not dozens of times more interesting than anything involving Jimmy Page?

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Black Dog" live