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Record Store Day 2026 will honor a longtime record store enthusiast this year with its coveted Record Store Legend award. The 77-year-old recipient, born in West Bromwich, England, has been frequenting record stores his whole life, most recently visiting brick-and-mortar locales in West Virginia; Kansas City, Missouri; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Austin, Texas. The vinyl-loving Englishman has even made a few albums himself over the years, releases you might find at a record store near you if you flip to the sections marked “Led Zeppelin,” “Robert Plant” or even his old covers band, “The Honeydrippers.”
Yes, Robert Plant—an eight-time Grammy winner, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and a Kennedy Center Award recipient—was announced as the 2026 Record Store Legend on Wednesday (April 8).
“Record stores have always been a part of my life. For me, once you get to the physical record it’s because you really want to know and be a part of what the artist was considering,” Plant said in a statement. “And I know, as a guy who’s been making records since 1966, people want to take home something very special, to enjoy all the elements of what an artist has put together. We want a connection between the music and the art of the whole thing.”
In advance of the 2026 Record Store Day festivities on April 18, Plant visited the delightful Spillers Records—which Billboard profiled in 2023 as the world’s oldest record store—in Cardiff, Wales, where he now boasts a permanent Record Store Legend plaque.
“The universe already recognizes Robert Plant as a legend, as proven by the legacy of his decades of recording and performing,” Spillers Records’ Ashli Todd said in a statement. “But record shops of the world will know firsthand that above all, Robert Plant is a connoisseur of his craft whose appetite for musical discoveries has not waned with the passage of time. We could wax lyrical all day about what a passionate record shop supporter Robert Plant is, so suffice to say, it is our honor to be the chosen custodians of his Record Store Legend plaque.”
Record Store Day reliably has a celebrity ambassador each year—2026’s is Bruno Mars—but doles out the Record Store Legend award sparingly. Only Elton John and Johnny Marr have received it before.
You can watch a video of Plant’s visit to the legendary record store below and see what exclusives RSD 2026 has to offer on the organization’s website.
