After nearly a week of speculation egged on by a mysterious countdown on the band's Facebook page, Led Zeppelin announced the official release of Celebration Day, the film capturing the band's 2007 reunion show at London’s O2 Arena.
While a CD/DVD release was widely speculated, Celebration Day will actually hit theaters first, being released by Omniverse Vision on 1,500 screens on October 17. You can buy tickets/view cinema listings at this location.
Details of the retail release have yet to be announced, but a posting on the band's official website promises "multiple video and audio formats on November 19 from Swan Song/Atlantic Records."
You can view a trailer for the film below.
The surviving members of Led Zeppelin were joined by Jason Bonham, son of their late drummer John Bonham, on December 10, 2007, for a 16-song set in honor of friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who passed away almost a year ago to the date of the show.
Ertegun was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
In other Led Zeppelin news, it was announced by John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that the band would be among the 2012 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, along with bluesman Buddy Guy, actor Dustin Hoffman and late-night TV host David Letterman.
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"Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant transformed the sound of rock and roll with their lyricism and innovative song structures," said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein, "infusing blues into the sound of rock and roll and laying the foundation for countless rock bands."
The awards will be presented December 1, followed by an Honors Gala the following day, which will air on CBS later that month. There's no word yet on whether all or any of the band members will be in attendance.
Over the past 20 years, Brad Tolinski, editorial director of Guitar World, Revolver and Guitar Aficionado magazines, has interviewed guitarist Jimmy Page more than any other journalist in the world. Those interviews have led to a new book, Light & Shade: Conversations With Jimmy Page (Crown Publishing), which will be published October 23. Click here for more info.
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Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
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