That Time Robert Plant Lost Karaoke to an Elvis Impersonator
Picture it: Hong Kong. 1996. A drunken Robert Plant singing Elvis Presley karaoke. A Taiwanese Elvis impersonator in the house. Sure, this scenario could be the result of your own booze-fueled dream. But according to Robert Plant, it really happened.
Plant shared the story on The Late Late Show With James Corden last night. You can watch the clip above.
The singer told the tale before performing "New World" (which you can watch below) from his most recent album, Carry Fire. The karaoke incident occurred on a trip he took with his son to China in 1996.
On their last night in town, they decided to let loose. "I wanted to sing, and I'd had too much to drink, so I thought 'Abba? No. Aerosmith? Oh, no, that wasn't on the thing," he recalled. "And there was Elvis. I said 'Okay,' I put my name down. And a bloke from Taiwan put his name down for Elvis [too]. So we were competing. So I'm doing all my bit ... I was neck and neck with this guy, but all the time the Chinese were going for the Taiwanese guy."
Plant insisted he was "really, really good," to which fellow guest, model and actress Camila Morrone, interjected, "Not to toot your own horn or anything ..." "Oh, no, I'm always tooting my own horn. Who's going to do it better than me?" Plant replied with a smile. "I'll do it for you," she joked.
Wrapping up the anecdote, Plant bottom-lined the experience: "In Beijing 22 years ago, I was beaten in karaoke by a Taiwanese Elvis impersonator."
Last month, Plant kicked off his 2018 North American tour in Raleigh, N.C. He also suggested that he his old Led Zeppelin bandmates might gather to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary this year.