Jimmy Page Upset by London Olympics Snubbing
Imagine how Jimmy Page — who generously promoted the 2012 London Olympics during closing ceremonies for the 2008 games in Beijing — felt when he learned that the Who‘s Keith Moon was invited to perform before he was. The Led Zeppelin guitarist says he’s very upset about being completely left off the lineup.
“Of course, I’m feeling rather hurt,” Page tells the British Telegraph. “We put so much into Beijing, but weren’t helped by the Chinese giving us next-to-no practice time.” He played with pop singer Leona Lewis, performing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ next to one of the red double-decker buses that symbolize London.
Perhaps organizers thought the 68-year-old Page was dead. After all it was just a month ago that they invited Moon, who’s been dead since 1978, to perform. That request led to one of the all-time great email exchanges. “I emailed back saying Keith now resides in Golders Green crematorium,” manager Bill Curbishley said. “If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him.”
Not only is the guitar great alive, he’s been very busy selling his and Led Zeppelin’s artist memorabilia through his official website and other venues. In March he released ‘Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks,’ a scrubbed soundtrack for a 1972 film of the same name.