Record Store Day honor for Plant

Robert Plant is getting a new vinyl-day honor at the same moment he is putting new music into record bins. Record Store Day named him its 2026 Record Store Legend ahead of this year’s event on Saturday, April 18. (recordstoreday.com) The award is tied to the culture around independent shops, not just chart history. Record Store Day said the honor recognizes Plant’s impact on music and his support for record stores, and the U.K. arm said the award is jointly presented by Record Store Day in the United States and Britain. (recordstoreday.com) (recordstoreday.co.uk) Plant marked the announcement by turning up at Spillers Records in Cardiff, the shop widely billed as the world’s oldest record store. Billboard reported that he visited to oversee the installation of his Record Store Legend plaque there. (billboard.com) (recordstoreday.com) That shop choice was not random. Plant was born in the English Midlands, but his career has long been tied to Britain’s rock history, and Spillers gives Record Store Day a setting that feels older than streaming by more than a century. (billboard.com) The other half of the story is a release made for people who still line up early. On April 18, Plant and Saving Grace with Suzi Dian are releasing a four-track vinyl extended play record called *Saving Grace: All That Glitters...* just for Record Store Day. (nonesuch.com) (recordstoreday.com) Saving Grace is not a nostalgia side project built for one weekend. Nonesuch said the group includes Suzi Dian and musicians from the English countryside Plant calls home, and Uncut noted that this lineup has been playing together for seven years. (nonesuch.com) (uncut.co.uk) The new extended play record leans into the same folk-and-roots lane as Plant’s recent work instead of trying to recreate Led Zeppelin at age 77. Record Store Day says the four songs are new studio recordings, including “Blackest Crow,” “Poison,” “Orphan Girl,” and “She Cried.” (recordstoreday.com) That mix tells you what Plant is doing now. One song is tied to Bert Jansch, one to Gillian Welch, and one is a traditional tune, which puts the record closer to a well-stocked folk bin than to a greatest-hits package. (recordstoreday.com) (uncut.co.uk) Record Store Day itself is built for exactly this kind of release. The event’s 2026 edition is the 19th annual celebration, with independent stores using exclusive pressings and in-store events to bring buyers through the door on one specific Saturday. (goldminemag.com) (recordstoreday.com) Plant fits that format unusually well because he is showing up as both a legend and an active artist. He is not being honored for a catalog alone; he is also arriving with a brand-new record that fans can only get through the same shop culture the award is meant to celebrate. (recordstoreday.com) (nonesuch.com)