Like two high school seniors with senioritis, Robert Plant and Stephen Colbert ignored the assignment and made a lasting memory. Forgetting the Late Show audience, their bands, their bookers, and the many fine press reps who make sure products are promoted and boxes checked, the 77-year-old rocker and the canceled late-night host nerded out over the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Colbert prepared one lonely on-topic question, holding up a copy of Plant’s September album Saving Grace with Suzi Dian. Of his Led Zeppelin days, Plant quipped, “I’d never thought about singing with anybody, because I had always been on my own up there, up at the sharp end. When my voice did not work, we were a great instrumental band.” That was the last capital-j Joke of the segment, but much of the conversation showed off a warm wit.
As Plant talked about the West Midlands, his own home and the place where Tolkien grew up, the two men found themselves quoting Middle-earth’s Tom Bombadil, geeking out over pubs where Tolkien had drained cups with C.S. Lewis, and generally enjoying each other’s company. “Fancy a drink afterwards?” Plant asked at one point, the album he’d come here to promote long forgotten. Check out the interview below.
The Late Show was canceled in July, citing financial reasons but under a cloud of political pressure. In a new interview this week, Colbert talked about his own political views, saying, “I’m more conservative than people think. I just happen to be talking about a government in extremis.”
As for Plant, he is set to kick off a North American tour supporting the release of Saving Grace (get tickets here).
