ROBERT PLANT Biography Due This Fall

According to USA Today, It Books — an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers — has acquired rights to a biography of LED ZEPPELIN vocalist Robert Plant, to be published in the U.K. in October 2013, and appear in the U.S. in January 2014.

"Robert Plant: A Life" is written by former Q and Kerrang! editor Paul Rees, and is based on in-depth interviews with those closest to to the LED ZEPPELIN frontman as well as access to the singer himself. It will follow Plant's career from early folk gigs in the 1960s in the Black Country, to his globe-spanning success with rock pioneers LED ZEPPELIN, as well as his recent Grammy-winning career working alongside bluegrass singer Alison Krauss.

Natalie Jerome, publishing director at Harper Non-Fiction U.K., and Denise Oswald, senior editor for It Books/HarperCollins U.S., bought the rights from Matthew Hamilton at Aitken Alexander and Matthew Elblonk at DeFiore and Company.

Jerome said: "Robert Plant's stature as one of the greatest frontmen of all time is without question and as fans of his music from LED ZEP to present, we have long wanted to publish his story. This book is as close to Plant telling his own story in his own words as we've seen or heard to date.

"Paul's close professional relationship with Robert is going to make for a revealing read and we can't wait to bring one of the greatest untold rock n' roll stories to the world."

Robert Plant is one of the few genuine living rock legends. Frontman of LED ZEPPELIN, musical innovator and seller of millions of records, Plant has been a profound influence on music, culture and modern history for over 40 years. Volumes have been written on the ZEPPELIN story, but Plant's tale has barely been told — until now.

Vividly written and meticulously researched by acclaimed music writer Paul Rees, "Robert Plant: A Life" is an indispensible part of any music bookshelf.

For more than a decade, Robert Plant led one of the biggest and most successful rock bands of all time: LED ZEPPELIN. The sheer scale of their success is extraordinary: in the U.S. alone they sold 70 million records, a figure surpassed only by THE BEATLES, while "Stairway To Heaven", the band's most recognizable song, has been played more times on American radio than any other track.

But Plant's legacy stretches far beyond the band. Here Paul Rees, whose professional relationship with Plant spans decades, brings the whole picture into focus for the first time — from the forces that shaped him as a boy in the Black Country to the ravaging highs and lows of the ZEPPELIN years; from his relationship with Jimmy Page and John Bonham to the solo career that today, at the age of 64, sees him producing some of the most acclaimed work of his career.

Told with tenacity, emotion and the spark of brilliance that befits such an enigmatic frontman, this is the definitive story of a man of incredible talent, remarkable courage and extraordinary conviction.