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If you want to pick a bone with someone about Robert Plant pursuing a solo career, then you can point a finger at Phil Collins.
In an interview with Vulture.com, Plant says, "After John [Bonham] passed away and there was no Led Zeppelin, there had to be a way to go. I floundered around a lot until I was 32 because I was in some kind of wild and absurd adventure...
"Phil Collins especially was a driving force and had positive energy with the first record, [1982's] Pictures at Eleven. It wasn’t a difficult job to get together with other people, it was just whether or not we could cook it properly.
"With Phil, it wasn’t so much advice as encouragement and consideration. He was taking no prisoners. He would only allow himself a short amount of time to come to the studio in Wales and make it work. Nobody was hiding behind the performance."
Collins played on five tracks on the album, with Cozy Powell on two others.
Plant says: "Then [Collins] came on tour with me and basically said, 'Robert, the guy [John Bonham] that sat behind you for all those years was my hero.' That was it. He said, 'Anything I can do to help you to get back into fighting shape again, I’m here.'
"That was at the time when [Collins' 1981 single'] In the Air Tonight came out. Yet he was still mixing and working with me while kicking off a particularly impressive and successful time. He’s a great spirit, a good man."
Ironically, while Collins played a role in launching Plant's solo career, he also played a role in the history of Led Zeppelin, playing with them at Live Aid in 1985, which didn't go over too well as Collins didn't rehearse with the band and that infuriated Jimmy Page.
Plant is currently working on a new album with his Band of Joy, titled Volume 2, as well as an expanded edition of his 1984 album, The Honeydrippers: Volume One.