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Robert Plant plays village charity concert


Robert Plant stunned fans by performing at a village church at the weekend.

The Led Zeppelin frontman played a set at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Northleach, Gloucestershire to help raise money for The Children’s Society, Christian Aid and Open Doors.

The 65-year-old singer joined Steve Winwood from Traffic, Bill Hunt from Wizzard and Tony Kelsey from The Move at the event, which was organised by musician Gordon Jackson, who went out of his way to get Robert to play.

Gordon, 71, told the Gloucestershire Echo newspaper: "I had his contact details, so I sent him an email asking him if he fancied playing, and got one back within an hour saying yes.

"Robert performed ‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’, and he asked Steve if he wanted to sing a verse or two. So they duetted, I don’t think they’ve ever done that before."

More than 400 villagers piled into the small venue after news spread of the performance.

Gordon explained: "We had about 220 people last year, 240 the year before and the church can only seat 250.

"This year, at 410 people we decided we couldn’t let any more in, though a few did sneak in so it was well over 400 people in there. It was packed."

The retired gardener is determined to make next year’s event even bigger and joked he’ll be arranging for the late Elvis Presley, who died in 1977, to play a set.

The concert raised a £5,000 which will see £1,100 given to the church and the three charities.