Today marks the 55th anniversary of the wheels being put in motion for the formation of Led Zeppelin as the wings were clipped on The Yardbirds, who broke up on July 7th, 1968.
But they weren't completely done, as they did their final show on July 14th at the Luton College of Technology in Bedfordshire, England.
Still committed to a Scandanavian tour, drummer Jim McCarty and singer Keith Relf gave permission to Jimmy Page and bassist Chris Dreja to use The Yardbirds' name to fulfill the dates. Dreja eventually dropped out to concentrate on photography while Page recruited Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham to do the tour in September as The New Yardbirds.
Shortly after the tour they went into the studio to record their first album, but not before changing their name to Led Zeppelin after The Who's drummer Keith Moon predicted they'd "probably go over like a lead zeppelin."
Of course they did anything but, going on to a 12-year career until Bonham's death on September 25th, 1980. In between they released eight albums and one live set, The Song Remains the Same, and ushered in a sea change in the musical landscape.