Pete Townshend: 'The Who Almost Became Led Zeppelin'

The Who’s Pete Townshend has said that his former Who bandmates Keith Moon and John Entwistle were almost the original members of Led Zeppelin.

Speaking on the Johnnie Walker show on BBC Radio Two, Townshend said that both Moon and Entwistle were ready to form a band alongside eventual Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck when The Who were in difficulties.

"When we chucked him out, briefly I thought 'Oh this is great, y'know, it's gonna be my band now,’” explained Townshend.

He contiuned: “And what actually happened was Keith and John went off and left Me behind, they were gonna go and form a band with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page called Led Zeppelin."

Townshend also revealed that is was Moon that came up with the name Led Zeppelin, adding that the only reason the band didn’t materialise was because he found out about the others’ plans.

"I heard about this and that threw me to be honest, cause I thought; 'Well, y'know, what do I do now?' And I was going to form a band with three guys from Liverpool or something,” he said. “It was all very very difficult, and then, y'know, we decided to put the band back together again."