Robert Plant reveals his favorite records of the year, from Bob Dylan to Florence + The Machine

Never one to rest on his laurels, Robert Plant this year has once again continued his ever-evolving musical quest with the debut album of his new group Saving Grace. A subtle, finely carved work built on blues, alt-country and folk reinterpretations, it finds him once again able to conjure fresh magic from a wide spectrum of musical sources. In an interview with Mojo, Plant shared some of the records he discovered, rediscovered and revisited throughout 2025. “Like so many people of my generation, I became fascinated by what was once known as Delta music and by how it transformed and modernised as it moved north, up to Chicago, with figures like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf – the former Led Zeppelin frontman recalled – I don't think I realised, at the time, just how far this music had travelled, to the point that some of these artists were starting to wonder where their own people had gone. I remember going to the Checkerboard Lounge, a club run by Junior Wells and Buddy Guy, on the South Side of Chicago. It was a Junior Wells night, and the audience was almost entirely white, with only a few of his friends at the back of the room. For me it was a particularly fun night, because at one point he announced: 'Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we've got an internationally famous star here, Led Zeppelin. Stand up, Led!'. And so 'Led' stood up on a table... Anyway, later on I came to understand that there was a whole other blues culture in the hill country of northern Mississippi: artists who had never taken the train to Chicago and who had developed a scene entirely of their own. This year I've been listening to a lot of that music. 'Train Train' by Jimmy 'Duck' Holmes, from his 2019 album 'Cypress Grove', is just out of this world."

The English singer then went on to explain how his album this year also features a version of “Chevrolet”: “Historically the song comes from Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy, but then Alan Lomax recorded the definitive version by Ed and Lonnie Young. What else have I been listening to? The Rolling Stones and Steve Riley: 'Zydeco Sont Pas Salés', from this year's Clifton Chenier tribute album. Riley is an incredible accordionist, who I've played with alongside C.C. Adcock. Then there's 'One Of The Greats' by Florence + The Machine, from the album 'Everybody Scream': that song just floored me! – Plant admitted – I have no idea what she's going through in that piece, but I can connect with it with every single atom of my energy.

Oh yes, and then there's also a record by a young man who used to play the folk clubs of Greenwich Village... something called 'Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window 1956-1963', by His Royal Highness Bob Dylan, who, by pure coincidence, is playing three nights in Swansea. The music on that record is simply... stunning, to me", Plant concluded.

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