Jimmy Page

For the Scottish footballer, see Jimmy Page (footballer).

Jimmy Page
OBE
Page at the Echo Music Awards, 2013
Born
James Patrick Page

(1944-01-09) 9 January 1944 (age 80)
Heston, Middlesex, England
Occupations
  • Musician
  • record producer
  • songwriter
Years active1957–present
Spouses
  • Patricia Ecker
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1986; div. 1995)​
  • Jimena Gomez Paratcha
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1995; div. 2008)​
PartnerScarlett Sabet (2014–present)
Children5, including Scarlet
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentGuitar
Labels
Formerly of

James Patrick Page OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prolific in creating guitar riffs, Page's style involves various alternative guitar tunings and melodic solos, coupled with aggressive, distorted guitar tones. It is also characterized by his folk and eastern-influenced acoustic work. He is notable for occasionally playing his guitar with a cello bow to create a droning sound texture to the music.[1][2][3]

Page began his career as a studio session musician in London and, by the mid-1960s, alongside Big Jim Sullivan, was one of the most sought-after session guitarists in Britain. He was a member of the Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968. When the Yardbirds broke up, he founded Led Zeppelin, which was active from 1968 to 1980. Following the death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, he participated in a number of musical groups throughout the 1980s and 1990s, more specifically XYZ, the Firm, the Honeydrippers, Coverdale–Page, and Page and Plant. Since 2000, Page has participated in various guest performances with many artists, both live and in studio recordings, and participated in a one-off Led Zeppelin reunion in 2007 that was released as the 2012 concert film Celebration Day. Along with the Edge and Jack White, he participated in the 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud.

Page is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time.[4][5][6] Rolling Stone magazine has described Page as "the pontiff of power riffing" and ranked him number three in their 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", behind Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and ranking 3rd again in 2023 behind Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix.[7][8][9] In 2010, he was ranked number two in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time" and, in 2007, number four on Classic Rock's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: once as a member of the Yardbirds (1992) and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995).

  1. ^ Case 2007, p. 294.
  2. ^ Lewis & Kendall 2004, p. 67.
  3. ^ Fast 2001, p. 210.
  4. ^ George-Warren, Romanowski Bashe & Pareles 2001, p. 773.
  5. ^ Gulla 2009, p. 151.
  6. ^ Prato, Greg. "Jimmy Page Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  7. ^ Fricke, David (25 August 1998). "Outrider". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  8. ^ "100 Greatest Guitarists". Rolling Stone. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  9. ^ "The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.