Celebrating 53 Years Since Led Zeppelin's Iconic 1973 Tour Kickoff in Atlanta

When a band has the impact Led Zeppelin did, doing something that really stands out more than five decades later can be difficult.

The blues rockers did just that in 1973 when they launched perhaps their most memorable and successful tour May 4 in Atlanta.

Fancy planes, maxed out crowds and even a mysterious unsolved robbery? The summer of '73 had it all for Led Zeppelin.

Taking fame to another level

By 1973, Led Zeppelin was on top of the music world.

The British band released its debut self-titled album in 1969. Led Zeppelin was a major hit despite the skepticism of music critics, and the band's following only grew with the release of Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin III and the untitled fourth album.

That year, they released Houses of the Holy. It was a more polished, experimental departure from their earlier "gritty" blues-rock, but it was just as massive a hit, providing the perfect soundtrack for a tour that would redefine rock-and-roll excess.

They made a movie out of it

Led Zeppelin's 1973 tour is perhaps best remembered for how it ended. That's because anyone - even those who were not alive in '73 - can get a taste of it thanks to The Song Remains the Same,a movie released in later years.

The film was recorded during the three-night finale of the tour at iconic Madison Square Garden from July 27-29.

It includes Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham and John Paul Jones performing many of the band's most iconic songs, including "Dazed and Confused," "Stairway to Heaven,""Rock and Roll," "Black Dog," and "The Rain Song."

The Starship and record crowds

The movie is far from the only memorable aspect of Led Zeppelin's 1973 tour.

The band also notably traveled via The Starship, a private jet that made making it from each city much more enjoyable than the usual slog on tour buses.

After opening in front of nearly 40,000 fans in Atlanta, the band's second stop - in Tampa, Fla., on May 5 - grossed more than $300,000 and drew 56,800, a record crowd at the time.

"I think it was the biggest thrill I've had," Plant told the Associated Press a few days later (via the band's website). "I pretend - I kid myself - I'm not very nervous in a situation like that. I try to bounce around just like normal, but if you do a proportionate thing, it would be like half of England's population."

He described the Tampa turnout as "a real surprise," too.

"Tampa is the last place I would expect to see 60,000 people," Plant told the AP. "It's not the country's biggest city. It was fantastic."

The tour also had stops in Jacksonville, Fla., Tuscaloosa, St. Louis, Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Inglewood, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, Vancouver, Boston, Providence, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

The robbery that rocked the world more than the band

The 1973 tour wasn't all triumphs, however. On the final night in New York, the band's tour manager, Richard Cole, discovered that approximately $180,000 in cash (roughly $1.2 million today) had been stolen from the band's safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel.

The money -- gate receipts from the Madison Square Garden shows -- was never recovered. Despite the massive loss, a 2021 biography revealed the band members "didn't seem too put off." With the tour generating over $4 million (in 1973 dollars), the loss was a drop in the bucket compared to the legend they had just finished building.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 2:45 AM.