Robert Plant Honoured

Robert Plant has been named Record Store Legend for 2026 ahead of Record Store Day on April 18. (nme.com) Record Store Day’s official site said Plant marked the honor with a visit to Spillers Records in Cardiff, where he helped install the plaque for the award. The same announcement tied the honor to his exclusive release, “Saving Grace: All That Glitters…,” due for Record Store Day 2026. (recordstoreday.com) Plant said record shops “have always been a part of my life,” according to NME. Record Store Day said he has been a regular in stores for years, citing sightings at shops including Waterloo Records, Schoolkids Records and Mills Record Company. (nme.com) (recordstoreday.com) The award lands as Record Store Day enters its 19th edition in 2026. The event began in 2008 after independent record store owners and employees organized a day to promote shop culture, and the group now says it involves nearly 1,400 independently owned stores in the United States and thousands more internationally. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) This year’s event also arrives with a familiar supply problem: limited vinyl runs depend on scarce factory time. Goldmine reported that Microforum Service Group, a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, is producing Record Store Day releases while handling the scheduling pressure that comes with one-day demand spikes. (goldminemag.com) Record Store Day’s 2026 list shows how crowded that pipeline is. The official release page includes hundreds of titles, and NME reported that more than 280 United Kingdom indie shops are taking part this year. (recordstoreday.com) (nme.com) Plant’s own release reflects the format that drives the event: an exclusive physical edition sold through participating stores. Record Store Day lists “Saving Grace: All That Glitters… with Suzi Dian” as a vinyl title on Nonesuch featuring four studio recordings. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) That makes the honor more than a career plaque. It puts one of rock’s best-known collectors and performers at the center of a retail event that still runs on queues, allocations and how many records factories can press before April 18. (recordstoreday.com) (goldminemag.com)