“It Still Strikes Me Like It Happened Yesterday”: Robert Plant Opens Up About the Pain of Losing His Son Karac and the Memories That Still Haunt Him.
In the glittering world of rock and roll, few figures stand as tall as Robert Plant. The voice of Led Zeppelin, the golden-haired icon who helped shape a generation’s sound, has lived a life filled with soaring highs, global adoration, and musical legacy. But beneath the legend lies a private sorrow that never fades—a father’s heartbreak that has quietly shaped his journey for nearly five decades.
On July 26, 1977, Robert Plant’s world shattered when his five-year-old son, Karac Pendragon Plant, died suddenly of a stomach virus while Plant was away on tour in the United States. The band was deep into their North American tour, playing to massive crowds, when the devastating news reached him. Karac’s death was not just a personal loss. It became a turning point in Plant’s life—one that still brings tears to his eyes and shakes the ground of his soul.
“It still strikes me like it happened yesterday,” Plant once said in a rare moment of vulnerability. “You don’t ever move on from something like that. You just find a way to live with it.”
The death of Karac came at the height of Led Zeppelin’s fame, but the grief was paralyzing. Plant canceled the rest of the tour and returned to England, where he and his wife Maureen tried to cope with a pain no parent should ever endure. For a time, Plant considered walking away from music entirely. He even enrolled in a teaching course at a college in Sussex, seeking escape in simplicity and a life away from the stage.
But the music eventually called him back—not in the same way, not with the same fire, but with a new depth born from loss. In 1979, two years after Karac’s passing, Led Zeppelin released their final studio album, In Through the Out Door. One of its most poignant tracks, “All My Love”, co-written by Plant and bassist John Paul Jones, was a tribute to Karac. It remains one of the band’s most emotionally resonant songs—a soft, aching melody that captures the enduring ache of a father’s love.
Even decades later, Plant has spoken about how Karac still visits him—through memories, through music, and sometimes in the quiet corners of his soul. In a 2018 interview, he said, “Every now and again, he turns up in songs, for no other reason than I miss him a lot.”
Those simple words carry the weight of a lifetime. Behind every note Plant sings, there is the echo of Karac’s laughter. Behind the silence after a show, there is the memory of a little boy with bright eyes and a future stolen too soon.
Plant has since found peace in moments—through family, through exploring different cultures and sounds, and through honoring Karac in his own way. But he never pretends the pain is gone. It lingers, just beneath the surface, a quiet companion to the man the world sees as a rock god.
As time continues to pass, the world remembers Robert Plant for his thunderous voice and fearless creativity. But Robert Plant will always remember Karac. Not just as his son, but as the most beautiful song he ever lost.