Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page: 'Olympics with Leona Lewis is my greatest achievement'

Turns out, the next best thing he did aside from creating of modern rock music involved a former X Factor winner and a sporting spectacular

You’d think “being in The Yard Birds”, “welcoming children” and “not dying from heavy recreational drug use in the Seventies” would be up among Jimmy Page’s list of crowning achievements second only to “being the lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin”.

Turns out, the next best thing he did aside from creating modern rock music is far more surprising.

Enter former X Factor winner Leona Lewis, with whom Page performed a rendition of “Whole Lotta Love” at the London 2012 Olympics, to his apparent delight, and the disappointment of thousands of Zeppelin fans.

“She’s really plucky, she’s superb, and she sang “Whole Lotta Love” brilliantly.

“We managed to do the full length of “Whole Lotta Love” – it wasn’t edited – and she sang it beautifully. It was so cool the way she approached it.

“For that audience, and the fact we didn’t f**k it up… We’re really going to do this and we’re going to do it proud. That was important. It was a Led Zeppelin number but it took on another persona. I was proud to be able to play that riff for the handover.”

No words.