Robert Plant

On success, critics, and what ‘Stairway to Heaven’ means to him now

- KORY GROW

Plant and Krauss released ‘Raise the Roof’ last fall and are on tour through Sept. 12.

You’re from England’s Black Country. What’s the most “Black Country” thing about you? The self-deflating humor. Sometimes I collide into people I knew when I was at the local town hall, and usually they’re charmingly abusive. They celebrate success for 10 minutes, and then the rest of the time it’s that success has gone to the wrong person or whatever. I love that.

How do you define success? By the smiles on the faces of the people I’m working with, the demeanor, my own demeanor. Entertainment is fine so long as the person you’re entertaining most of all is yourself. I’m a little wary of repetition.