Robert Plant named Record Store Legend
Ahead of Record Store Day on April 18, Robert Plant was announced as the latest 'Record Store Legend' and is connected to a planned four‑track EP, Saving Grace: All That Glitters, with Saving Grace and Suzi Dian — a move that spotlights vinyl culture and collectible releases this month. The Record Store Day roster this year also highlights exclusives from names like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen, making April 18 a must‑scan for collectors. ( )
Robert Plant is getting a Record Store Day honor that usually doubles as a retail event all by itself: he was just named the 2026 Record Store Legend, and Billboard marked it with a visit to Spillers Records in Cardiff, which is widely billed as the world’s oldest record store. (billboard.com) The timing is the point. Record Store Day lands on April 18, 2026, and the official Record Store Day site says the special titles on its 2026 list will be released at participating shops that day, turning one Saturday into a nationwide vinyl scavenger hunt. (recordstoreday.com) Plant’s part in that hunt is a new 12-inch vinyl extended play record called *Saving Grace: All That Glitters… with Suzi Dian*. The official listing says it carries four new studio recordings and is being released through Nonesuch Records. (recordstoreday.com) Those four songs are not random vault scraps. Record Store Day lists them as “Blackest Crow,” “Poison,” “Orphan Girl,” and “She Cried,” with credits tying the set to traditional music, Bert Jansch, Gillian Welch, and the songwriting team of Ted Daryll and Greg Richards. (recordstoreday.com) This release also fits the version of Robert Plant that has taken shape in recent years. Billboard reported in 2025 that *Saving Grace*, the larger album named after his band, was due on September 26 through Nonesuch and centered on Plant’s work with vocalist Suzi Dian and the group he assembled around that project. (billboard.com) So the “Legend” label is not just a lifetime-achievement plaque for Led Zeppelin history. Everett Post reports that Plant’s award arrives while he is actively recording and touring with Saving Grace and Suzi Dian, including a spring 2026 United States run that began on March 14 in Albuquerque and wrapped on April 7 in New York City. (everettpost.com, (everettpost.com)) The award itself is still a fairly new Record Store Day tradition. Everett Post says Elton John was the first Record Store Legend in 2017, and Johnny Marr of The Smiths received the honor in 2025, which puts Plant in a line of artists chosen as ambassadors for the record-shop side of music, not just the chart side. (everettpost.com) Plant is also landing in a Record Store Day field crowded with heavyweight names. Uncut’s 2026 guide highlights exclusive releases tied to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Springsteen, and Billboard’s earlier rundown of the 2026 list also pointed to major names including Madonna, Grateful Dead, and the cast of *Wicked*. (uncut.co.uk, (billboard.com) That is why this announcement lands bigger than a normal artist tribute. A four-track Robert Plant record, sold as a Record Store Day exclusive on April 18, gives collectors a reason to line up early and gives independent shops a fresh Plant release they cannot be undercut on before the doors open. (recordstoreday.com, (recordstoreday.com) And the image Record Store Day chose for the moment was not an arena or an awards stage. It was Robert Plant walking into Spillers Records in Cardiff, tying one of rock’s most famous voices to the oldest kind of music retail just as April’s biggest vinyl release day arrives. (billboard.com)
