Pete Townshend Admits He’s Trying to Set Up Lunch With Jimmy Page
The Who’s Pete Townshend has softened his stance on Led Zeppelin, admitting that he recently reached out to Jimmy Page in hopes of sharing a meal after diving back into the band’s catalog.
Speaking on the Classic Album Review podcast, Townshend discussed whether The Who should be viewed as godfathers of heavy metal. While he noted that many players cited 1970’s Live At Leeds as permission to jam and “go nuts,” he pointed out that early metal operated almost like a “religious philosophy” rooted in darkness.
Revisiting Led Zeppelin and Past Rivalries
Townshend admitted that his past reluctance to appreciate Led Zeppelin stemmed from direct competition during their heyday. “It’s just that, at the time, I didn’t like it that they were in a sense trying to pinch our audience,” Townshend explained. He compared the feeling to the arrival of Jimi Hendrix:
Decades after previously stating in a 1995 History of Rock ‘N’ Roll interview that he hadn’t liked a single thing Page’s band had done, Townshend confessed a change of heart. He shared that he recently sent Page a note after re-listening to the albums, telling him, “I’ve been listening to all of the Zeppelin albums again, and there’s some fucking great stuff there.” He added that he was surprised by the sonic variations across their work, acknowledging that he knew Page could handle himself as a shredder.
Townshend on AC/DC and Black Sabbath
Despite shaping hard rock’s early volume limits, Townshend admitted his listening habits outside of The Who didn’t span the broader metal spectrum. “The only heavy metal I really listened to was AC/DC,” he said, adding that he didn’t really get into Black Sabbath either, though he acknowledged “they were great fun” and praised parts of the music business where people don’t take themselves too seriously.
Townshend’s current efforts to connect with Page mark a stark turnaround from past admissions regarding the heavy rock landscape, where he once conceded that Led Zeppelin eventually overtook The Who in heavy rock terms.
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