What's in a Name, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin was a legendary British rock band who dominated the music scene in the 70s with heavy, guitar-driven sounds. The phrase "lead balloon" is a commonly used idiom to describe an ill-conceived idea, or one whose failure is both predictable and inevitable.


The name allegedly arose when Keith Moon, after being invited to drum for the band, suggested that the idea would go over like a "lead zeppelin." Moon evidently modified the common phrase to exaggerate its humor. Jimmy Page liked the phrase so much; he took it for the band's name. The decision to misspell it was made because they thought Americans who were not as familiar with the original phrase would mispronounce the word as "leed."