Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page has been honoured at an exclusive event at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. The event was hosted by the British Ambassador, Karen Pierce, and the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury of United Kingdom, Charles Roxburgh.
At the event, which was attended by a list of notables including US Attorney General Merrick Garland, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Brett Kavanaugh, Page was honoured for "his and the band's more than five decades making brilliant British music - and his life of philanthropy."
The event was organised by Catherine and Wayne Reynolds from the Academy of Achievement, a non-profit organization created to introduce impressionable students to real-life role models. Amongst the beneficiaries of the Reynolds' philanthropy have been the Smithsonian Institute, the National Gallery of Art, and the Kennedy Center, where Led Zeppelin were famously honoured in 2012.
American singer-songwriter Grace Potter played live at the Washington event, entertaining the assembled dignitaries with a version of Led Zeppelin's 1969 classic Whole Lotta Love. Potter has previously performed the song on her Monday Night Twilight Hour livestream series, and has also covered That's The Way and Your Time Is Gonna Come.
"Every once in a while, you get invited into a world unlike any you have ever known," wrote Potter. "In this case, it was an invite to a certain British Ambassador's residence to play for/ honour, the lifetime achievement of a certain rockstar (named Jimmy Page). Endless thanks to Catherine and Wayne. Your purpose generosity and fortitude is unwavering and awe-inspiring."
More than ten minutes of Page's speech was filmed by political journalist Steve Clemons and posted on networking site LinkedIn.
"I wish I had gotten every moment of this," says Clemons. "But here at least are 11 minutes and 41 seconds of Led Zeppelin founder and rockstar legend Jimmy Page, talking at a dinner I was at tonight about his origins, about his coming by a guitar and figuring it out, about his joining the Yardbirds and being a backup singer for famous musicians in their time. And how Led Zeppelin and Stairway to Heaven became his contributions to all of us.
"The Library of Congress issued a certificate to him tonight registering Stairway to Heaven as an audio treasure that will be listened to for 'all time'. Thank you to British Ambassador Karen Pierce for a magnificent memorable evening."
