My Elevator Ride With Robert Plant

I recently took a trip to Nashville for work, and after the first day of meetings on the mezzanine level* of the hotel, my colleague and I got on the elevator to go back to our rooms. When we entered the elevator, there was a tall (compared to me) gentleman with long, curly hair already there by himself. He instantly looked familiar to me. This was Robert Plant, lead singer of the legendary Led Zeppelin. His stop was on the 4th floor while I was on the 3rd and my colleague was on the 2nd. My colleague apologized saying that he probably didn’t want to stop on every single floor just to get to his room. He said no problem as he scrambled to put his mask back on. After my colleague got off on her floor, it was just me and him. I didn’t say anything in the probably 5-10 seconds when the elevator moved (though it felt like minutes) until the elevator arrived on my floor and I said have a good night as I exited. I think I said you too.

When I got back to my hotel room, I decided to do some internet research. I mean, why would Robert Plant be in Nashville and staying in my hotel? It’s a nice hotel, but I would think that Robert Plant would stay somewhere nicer. And why would he stay on the 4th floor instead of a penthouse suite? I gave it about a 5% chance it was him. 

My online search only came up with a New York Times article published that day about a reunion between Plant and Alison Krauss. The article mentioned that Krauss and producer T Bone Burnett spoke by phone from Nashville. I then texted my colleague asking if the guy in the elevator had a British accent since I wasn’t sure. She said that he did, so I bumped it up to about a 25% chance it was him. Of course, I'm glad that I missed the part of the article where it mentioned that Plant spoke to the author from his home in England. That might have ended my quest completely.

A little later, I went downstairs and ran into some colleagues in the lobby. I asked, “Is there any chance that Robert Plant is staying in the hotel?” One colleague instantly exclaimed yes! She said she saw him checking in and he looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Now, it was a 40% chance it was him!

We spent the next 24 hours or so trying to solve the mystery of if we were in the presence of Robert Plant. I asked multiple hotel employees if he was staying at the hotel. They refused to confirm or deny. I tried a different route by asking if it was possible to share if any of the guests were part of a highly successful rock band from the 70s? They refused to budge. There were discussions of maybe hanging out on the 4th floor to see if we could see him again. Finally, I decided to contact Robert Plant directly through his Instagram account. He didn’t reply. I suspect that he’s not the person running his Instagram account. At that point, I gave up.

Fast-forward to Saturday night. I returned from the Grand Ole Opry and saw some colleagues at the hotel bar. One of my colleagues was sitting right next to Robert Plant (or at least someone who looked exactly like him). 

Apparently, they talked for about 30 minutes, but it was a very general conversation. As he was leaving, someone in our group asked to take a picture with him, so there’s now a photo of about 10 of us with Robert Plant. He doesn't particularly look thrilled in the picture, but there's now proof. Well, or at least a 98% chance it was him. I guess someone could be an amazing Robert Plant impersonator!

So it turns out, the surprise guest from the Grand Ole Opry show was Robert Plant!

*There is a song from the mid-90s called "Super Bon Bon" by Soul Coughing that includes the line, “You have to take the elevator to the mezzanine.” I think of this line every time I see a sign for mezzanine. I can’t be the only one!

Photo of Plant and Krauss by Eric Ryan Anderson for The New York Times.