Robert Plant honored

Robert Plant did not just get a plaque this week. He got a new Record Store Day title, “Record Store Legend,” and the honor arrived with a limited 12-inch vinyl extended play record set for Saturday, April 18, 2026. (recordstoreday.com) The record is called *Saving Grace: All That Glitters...*, and Record Store Day lists it as a four-track exclusive with 3,500 copies on Nonesuch Records. That makes the award feel less like a museum tribute and more like a reason for fans to line up at independent shops. (recordstoreday.com) Plant made the record with Saving Grace, the group he has been touring and recording with, plus singer Suzi Dian. Nonesuch says the release follows his recent *Saving Grace* album and keeps the same English-countryside lineup together. (nonesuch.com) The four songs are not Led Zeppelin leftovers. Record Store Day’s release page lists a traditional song, “Blackest Crow,” plus covers of Bert Jansch’s “Poison,” Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl,” and “She Cried” by Ted Daryll and Greg Richards. (recordstoreday.com) Record Store Day is built around one old-fashioned idea: give independent stores something you cannot stream your way into owning. The organization says its 2026 event is the 19th annual edition, with thousands of stores taking part worldwide on April 18. (goldminemag.com) Plant fits that campaign better than most stars because the rollout leaned on an actual shop visit, not just a press release. Record Store Day posted video of him at Spillers Records in Cardiff, Wales, where he oversaw the installation of his plaque. (recordstoreday.com) Spillers is not a random backdrop. Billboard described it as the world’s oldest record store, which turns Plant’s stop there into a neat bridge between a 77-year-old rock figure and a retail format that survives by selling history as a physical object. (billboard.com) The award itself is still a small club. Goldmine reports that Elton John was the first “Record Store Legend” in 2017, Johnny Marr got the honor in 2025, and Plant is the latest artist chosen jointly by the United States and United Kingdom Record Store Day teams. (goldminemag.com) Record Store Day’s own announcement says the honor recognizes Plant’s “lasting impact on music” and his support for new artists and record shops. That second part is the key to why this is tied to a fresh release instead of a greatest-hits reissue. (recordstoreday.co.uk) So the full picture is simple: a veteran singer with one of rock’s most famous catalogs is being used to send people into local stores for a new, scarce record made with his current band, not his old one. On April 18, the point is not just to honor Robert Plant’s past, but to turn his present into foot traffic for the shops. (recordstoreday.com)