Jimmy Page News 2014: Led Zeppelin Guitarist to Be Honored With Berklee School of Music Honorary Doctorate
ByJimmy Page is already Rock 'n' Roll royalty and one of the most famous musicians of all time, but soon he will hold an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.
The school announced Thursday the Led Zeppelin, Geri Allen, Valerie Simpson and Thara Memory will be honored for their achievements and influence in music. The group will be honored at the school's May 10 commencement ceremony at the Agganis Arena at Boston University, a venue that seats 7,000.
Page, 70, is a founding member of Led Zeppelin, widely regarded as one of the two or three greatest rock bands off all time. Page produced all of the band's albums and is one of the most influential and revered guitarists alive today.
"It's truly an honor to be the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate at Berklee as the music of America has been a primary driving force in my early years and pivotal to my musical development," Page said in a written statement to Rolling Stone.
Berklee's past honorees of the doctorate of music span several musical genres like jazz and blues all the way to pop and funk. Duke Ellington was the first in 1971 and he has been followed by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, Steven Tyler, Loretta Lynn, David Bowie, Juan Luis Guerra, Paco de Lucia, Carole King, Willie Nelson, Alison Krauss and George Clinton, according to the school's news release.
Led Zeppelin has been inactive since drummer John Bonham's unexpected death in 1980. Page, the band's founder, and bassist John Paul Jones have reportedly tried repeatedly to get lead singer Robert Plant to agree to a full-scale comeback for years.
The trio have, by all appearances, remained close-knit friends but have never done anything more than play scattered reunion shows with substitute drummers. Their most recent was in 2007 at London's O2 Arena with Bonham's son Jason. "Celebration Day," the live-album from that performance was released in Oct. 2012 and won the Best Rock Album Grammy Award.
According to the Guardian, Zeppelin is planning to release reissues of their first three albums with never-before-heard tracks (except for on bootlegs). CLICK HERE to see full track listings and read about the reissued albums.
Though it is a safe bet to expect them at the ceremony, it is not yet confirmed whether or not Plant and Jones have purchased plane tickets to Boston for the day.