Los Angeles, Sep 9 (IANS): Led Zeppelin member Robert Plant shared that he would fake illness to cut short rock band’s studio sessions so he could watch football.

The ‘Whole Lotta Love’ hitmaker is an ardent fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers and even at the height of the band’s fame, he would slip out of practice and immerse himself in the “euphoria and pain” of cheering on his club.

Plant told Empire magazine: “I was always with it – the whole idea of coming to Molineux on a cloudy, misty Tuesday night, when the South Bank was just an absolute miasma or cigarette smoke with a fantastic atmosphere and chant.

“It was such a far cry from what I’d been involved with on tour. I could get lost in the euphoria, the pain, or the bliss. On a Tuesday afternoon, I would be recording with Led Zeppelin and suddenly get a sore throat to be away for a night game.”

The rocker, 76, was seriously injured in a car accident in the 1970s and turned to the club’s physio team for help and support, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Talking about the accident, he said: ““In 1975, during those Led Zeppelin days, I had a really bad car wreck and I was in a wheelchair for several months. I had to learn to walk and use my right foot again.”

He shared that it stopped a lot of Led Zeppelin activity.

“Though we did write and cut a new record. I said to Sammy Chung, who was the club’s assistant manager at the time, ‘Look, I’ve put my credibility and reputation on the line a bit, performing like a pantomime pony under the floodlights – can you help me to walk?’”

“So I started a physiotherapy regime and went to the gym with players of that time, such as Willie Carr and John McAlle. Sammy helped me to get as much movement out of my leg again as I could.”