Robert Plant and Jack White Make Lemonade Out of Led Zep's 'The Lemon Song'

Robert Plant may have balked at a full-scale Led Zeppelin tour after the band’s historic 2007 one-off reunion at the O2 Arena, but he has no problem rocking the occasional Zep tune live.

On Saturday night, Plant joined Jack White on stage for a blistering take of Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” during the former White Stripes singer’s headlining set at Lollapalooza Argentina. White has made a career of delivering his hard-rockin’ take on the blues, first in the White Stripes and now as a solo artist, and has covered the Led Zeppelin II album track in the past — last year when he topped the bill at Bonnaroo and also on his tour backing his second solo set, Lazaretto.

For Plant, it was more of a rarity. According to Setlist.fm, it’s the first time he’s played the track since he and Zep guitarist Jimmy Page did it in 1995 in Norway on their tour to support No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, although that track was not included on that album.

The fact that Plant dug into the Zep catalog with White — and still sounds good belting out the blues — was probably a minor annoyance for Page, Zep bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer Jason Bonham, the son of the band’s founding drummer, John Bonham, all of whom were pushing hard for a full-scale Led Zeppelin tour following the 2007 reunion. Plant has reportedly balked at huge sums of money thrown at the band. The Mirror once reported that Richard Branson had offered the band $800 million to tour, although Plant called the report “rubbish” and Branson said there was “no truth to the story.”

What is true is that Plant would rather follow his own muse than revive Led Zeppelin. He released his 10th solo album, the rootsy Lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar, back in November and is now touring with his current band, the Sensational Space Shifters, while Page continues to remaster and promote reissues of the Led Zeppelin catalog.

It’s not the first time that White has gotten his jam on with a member of Led Zeppelin. In the 2008 rockumentary It Might Get Loud, White, Page, and U2’s The Edge convened to share stories, inspiration and guitar tips and rock out on some tunes, including Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and “In My Time of Dying.”

Since White has played with Page and now Plant, perhaps John Paul Jones should be expecting his call soon.