Robert Plant: Record Store Legend

Robert Plant is being honored by Record Store Day before this year’s event on Saturday, April 18, and the same celebration is also getting a new Robert Plant release that will only be sold through participating shops. (recordstoreday.com, 1057thepoint.com) The release is a 12-inch vinyl extended play record called *Saving Grace: All That Glitters... with Suzi Dian*, and Record Store Day lists it as an exclusive run of 3,500 copies. (recordstoreday.com) This is not a Led Zeppelin nostalgia item. Nonesuch says the record continues Plant’s recent *Saving Grace* project with singer Suzi Dian and a backing group Plant describes as musicians from the English countryside where he lives. (nonesuch.com) The four songs were recorded specifically for Record Store Day 2026, and the set leans into the folk and Americana material Plant and the band have been exploring together. Record Store Day’s listing names two traditional songs, “The Blackest Crow” and “Two Coats,” plus covers of Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl” and Bert Jansch’s “Poison.” (recordstoreday.co.uk, nonesuch.com) The award itself is unusually selective. Record Store Day’s own announcement for Johnny Marr in 2025 said Elton John was the first Record Store Legend in 2017, which made Marr only the second recipient at the time. (recordstoreday.com, recordstoreday.co.uk) That means Plant joins a very short list rather than a yearly hall of fame. The award is presented jointly by Record Store Day in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the stated focus is not just sales or fame but visible support for independent record shops. (recordstoreday.com, 1057thepoint.com) Plant’s quote in the announcement explains why he fits the honor. He says record stores have “always been a part of my life” and describes the physical record as the moment when a listener decides to get closer to what an artist was trying to make. (gratefulweb.com) The timing is the point. Record Store Day is built around limited physical releases that push fans into stores on one specific Saturday, and Plant is arriving with both a ceremonial role and a scarce new record tied to that traffic. (recordstoreday.com, banquetrecords.com) If you only know Plant as the singer from Led Zeppelin, this release shows where he is in 2026: not revisiting arena rock, but cutting four new studio recordings with Suzi Dian for a small-batch vinyl release aimed straight at independent bins and turntables. (nonesuch.com, recordstoreday.com)