On July 26, 1977, Led Zeppelin sat at the peak of their commercial dominance. They were in the middle of a record-breaking North American stadium tour, resting at the Maison Dupuy hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans before a scheduled performance at the Louisiana Superdome.
The phone rang. It was Maureen, calling from the couple’s farm near Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
Their five-year-old son, Karac, was critically sick with a virulent, unidentified stomach virus. Within two hours, a second call arrived: Karac had stopped breathing and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital. Plant was stranded thousands of miles away, completely shattered.
Tour manager Richard Cole and manager Peter Grant canceled the remainder of the tour on the spot. Plant rushed to London on the first available transatlantic flight. The shock of being detached on another continent while his boy slipped away became the defining trauma of Plant's life, stripping away any lingering illusions about the glamour of rock and roll.
| Child | Birth Year | Mother | Known Pursuits & Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmen Jane Plant | 1968 | Maureen Wilson | Dancer and movement instructor; married bassist Charlie Jones. |
| Karac Pendragon Plant | 1972, 1977 | Maureen Wilson | Died at age five from a sudden, severe stomach virus. |
| Logan Romero Plant | 1979 | Maureen Wilson | Former singer; founder and visionary behind Beavertown Brewery. |
| Jesse Lee Plant | 1991 | Shirley Wilson | Maintains an entirely private personal life outside the public eye. |
