The musician performed the Lord of the Rings-inspired track with his band Saving Grace
Robert Plant and his band Saving Grace appeared on The Late Show to showcase Led Zeppelin‘s 1969 track “Ramble On.”
The musicians offered an intimate, bluesy rendition of the song, complete with an accordion, while Plant gave the vocals a theatrical flair. “Ramble On,” written by Plant and Jimmy Page, originally appeared on the band’s album Led Zeppelin II. The lyrics were notably inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings, a favorite of host Stephen Colbert.
Plant began playing with his current band, Saving Grace, in 2019 after he booked a trio of shows at tiny, off-the-radar theaters across England. The group released an album, Saving Grace, in 2025, and toured the U.S. last fall. Much of the album was recorded in a field.
Plant told Rolling Stone of the LP, “It was an experiment that took me back to Physical Graffiti with Led Zeppelin when I did quite a few vocals outside. I really enjoyed the whole idea of being out there rather than in the constraints of a studio.”
He added, “It’s been pretty organic all the way through. I know that’s a very overused word, but that’s how it is. Nothing was riding on it, nobody was thinking beyond maybe putting this record out. Some shows in the U.S. later in the year might be about the zenith of anything that anybody ever imagined really. There’s never any sort of aspiration. … We’ve got a good thing going on without where there’s no huge imperatives. It’s just really nice.”
Colbert recently revealed that he was tapped to develop the script for the second of two upcoming films in the blockbuster franchise, and will be working alongside his son Peter McGee and Philippa Boyens on The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past (currently a working title). The installment will follow Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum, which is being directed by Gollum actor Andy Serkis.
