Robert Plant at Record Store Day

Robert Plant is turning up at Record Store Day 2026 in two different ways at once: as the event’s new “Record Store Legend,” and as an artist with a new exclusive vinyl EP hitting shops on Saturday, April 18. Bruno Mars is the year’s celebrity ambassador, so the day’s public face is a current pop star while one of rock’s longest-running names gets the honorary plaque. (billboard.com) (recordstoreday.com) (nonesuch.com) The plaque was unveiled at Spillers Records in Cardiff, Wales, which Billboard and other coverage identify as the world’s oldest record store. That choice fits Plant’s image almost too neatly: a singer from the album era being honored inside a shop that predates rock itself. (billboard.com) (wdrv.com) Record Store Day is built around a simple retail trick that still works in 2026: press a batch of records you can only get in independent shops, release them on one Saturday, and turn buying music into an event again. The 2026 celebration is scheduled for April 18, with participating stores selling limited editions on a first-come, first-served basis. (recordstoreday.com) (nonesuch.com) Plant’s release is a four-track EP called Saving Grace: All That Glitters..., credited to Robert Plant and Saving Grace with Suzi Dian. Nonesuch says the songs were recorded specifically for Record Store Day, which makes the honor feel less like a museum award and more like a live campaign tied to a current project. (nonesuch.com) (recordstoreday.com) The EP is built from covers and traditional material rather than new Plant originals, which is exactly where this phase of his career has been heading. The Record Store Day listing names “Blackest Crow,” “Poison,” “Orphan Girl,” and “She Cried” as the four tracks. (recordstoreday.com) Saving Grace is the band Plant has used in recent years to move away from hard-rock bombast and toward folk, Americana, and old songbook material. Nonesuch describes the group as including Suzi Dian and musicians from the English countryside Plant calls home, which tells you this is a small-band, rootsy setup, not a Led Zeppelin nostalgia machine. (nonesuch.com) The “Record Store Legend” tag also comes with a bit of recent history. Goldmine reports Elton John was the first recipient in 2017, and Johnny Marr received the honor in 2025, so Plant is being placed in a short line of artists chosen less for chart position than for deep record-shop credibility. (goldminemag.com) Bruno Mars sits on the other end of the same strategy. Record Store Day named him the 2026 ambassador, and the official announcement has him talking up vinyl and independent shops, which helps the event bridge collectors who want a Robert Plant EP and younger fans who know Mars first. (recordstoreday.com) (billboard.com) The release list around Plant is stacked with bigger-batch collector bait too. Uncut’s guide highlights exclusives from Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Springsteen, which is the usual Record Store Day formula: one part treasure hunt, one part traffic jam outside an indie shop before breakfast. (uncut.co.uk) So Plant’s role this year is not just ceremonial. He is being used as proof that Record Store Day still wants to sell the romance of the record shop itself: old store, older format, limited pressing, and a singer whose newest release is arriving through the same bins that built his audience decades ago. (billboard.com) (nonesuch.com)