Words by Riley Fitzgerald
Graphic by Press

Nobody could ever quite sing Led Zeppelin‘s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ like Robert Plant.

But performing to a New Zeland audience on Monday Queen‘s Adam Lambert gave it a shot.

And why not?

Lambert is, after all, no stranger to stepping into the shoes of famous vocalists, having stood in as Freddie Mercury‘s replacement in Queen since 2011.

(Mercury passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1991.)

The decision to include the song was a surprise to fans present at the Dunedin venue.

In recent years, Queen’s live shows have stuck to mostly a Greatest Hits format (with additional Adam Lambert’s solo material mixed in).

Queen previously performed the song on February 17th, 2015 at the O2 Arena in Prague.

It was also this Led Zeppelin II number which first brought Lambert to Queen’s attention.

As the legend goes, Lambert was contacted by the group after Queen’s touring instrumentalist Spike Edney witnessed the vocalist performing ‘Whole Lotta Love’ on a television program American Idol in 2009.

This is far from where the Queen and Led Zeppelin connection ends.

In 1992 Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, backed by Queen, sang ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love‘ in a concert which paid tribute to Queen’s fallen frontman.

Joining heavy metal outfit Bad News onstage in 1986, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page famously jammed with Queen’s Brian May.

Again in the company of May, Page would also meet England’s Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace’s Music Day At The Palace in March 2005.