New album and tour may surface, John Paul Jones tells BBC Radio Devon

BBC Radio Devon caught up with John Paul Jones at the Mansons Guitar Show in Exeter on Oct. 26. "The Late Show," hosted by Vic Morgan, broadcast the full interview with Jones last night.

Jones commented on Led Zeppelin's one-off concert at the O2 Arena in London this past December:

"It was wonderful, it was wonderful. It was a combination of a lot of hard work. We worked really, really hard. It wasn't just a matter of getting through the show and just hoping that people hearing the songs again would carry us through. We were determined to give a really top-of-the-line performance. And you've got to be so familiar with it all again and then move on to the next level. And it was very important to us that we did that, and we did it. I think we pulled it off. We put a tremendous amount of work in it, a lot of focus on that one show."

He then confirmed that an album and tour could be in the works once the lineup with Jimmy Page, Jason Bonham and a new singer is firmed up. Jones added that this project is taking priority over the solo album he announced years ago would be his follow-up to The Thunderthief, released in 2002.

Some things to notice from this:

• Jones never said the project will be called Led Zeppelin. The talk of replacing Robert Plant may be off-base. They may simply be auditioning singers for a new, separate band consisted of two original members of Led Zeppelin and the son of a third.
  
• Jones says an album and tour will follow. How does this differ from Jimmy Page's most recent comments on the subject, delivered last month, in which he denied media speculation? I always took Page's comments to mean there would be no album or tour, yet here's Jonesy saying there will be both. The only distinction is, again, whether it would be called Led Zeppelin or not.