Robert Plant to Receive Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award

Robert Plant, former frontman of Led Zeppelin, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Association on Sept. 16 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The ceremony follows his recent “Saving Grace” tour, which featured English singer Suzi Dian and concluded with a March performance at the same venue. Plant’s tour resumes on Sept. 18 in Missouri, two days after the awards event.

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Plant first appeared at the Ryman Auditorium in 2008 for the Americana Honors & Awards, sharing Album of the Year honors with Alison Krauss for *Raising Sand* and later winning Duo of the Year. He repeated the Album of the Year success in 2011 with his *Band of Joy* LP. Over the past decade, Plant has collaborated with Americana artists such as Krauss and Patty Griffin, signaling a shift from his rock roots to the genre’s collaborative, vocal-focused style.

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• Robert Plant – vocalist, former Led Zeppelin frontman, now an Americana performer.

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• Suzi Dian – English singer who co-writes and records with Plant on *Saving Grace*.

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• Oli Jefferson – drummer, husband of Suzi Dian, part of Plant’s touring band.

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• Americana Music Association – organization presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award; past honorees include Buddy Guy, Elvis Costello, Patty Griffin, Don Henley, Los Lobos, and Bonnie Raitt.

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The Americana Music Association announced Plant’s selection as one of its highest honors, noting his “full ensconcement in the Americana genre.” Plant’s own remarks, given to Rolling Stone last year, describe his artistic transition: he left his band Strange Sensation to explore “sharing vocals and working around another singer, adapting to someone else’s vocal style.” He added that meeting Suzi Dian “was almost like something I couldn’t have even imagined for such a long time.”

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• “It was such a departure for me to come out of [my band] Strange Sensation into this world of sharing vocals and working around another singer, adapting to someone else’s vocal style.” — Robert Plant, Rolling Stone interview

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• “I was introduced to Suzi and to her husband, the drummer, Oli Jefferson, and I just really enjoyed her plaintive style and the freshness of her and enthusiasm of her approach to the songs I presented.” — Robert Plant, Rolling Stone interview

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