Led Zeppelin to reunite for tribute to Ahmet Ertegun

Led Zeppelin will fly again. The top-selling hard-rock act of all time will take the stage for the first time in 19 years with a November performance in London in honor of the late Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records and a beloved mentor to many of the most enduring stars in both the rock and soul scenes. Ertegun died in December.

“This performance stands alone as our tribute to the work and the life of our long-standing friend,” Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant said in a statement about the Nov. 26 show at the O2 Arena, a venue that sits on the banks of the Thames. Plant will be joined by guitar icon Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones, while drums will be handled by Jason Bonham, son of the late John Bonham, the band’s fourth founding member, who died in 1980.

The show will benefit the Ertegun Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in England, the U.S. and Ertegun’s native Turkey. Other announced performers so far include Pete Townshend, formerly of the Who; Foreigner; Bill Wyman, formerly of the Rolling Stones; and young Scottish singer Paolo Nutini, the last act Ertegun signed in an illustrious career that spanned six decades. Bracing for a crush of demand, tickets will be sold in pairs to fans selected randomly from those who register at www.ahmettribute.com. Tickets cost 125 British pounds each, which converts to about $254.