MTV, Arena Rock, groupies, Lollapalooza, crazy backstage rider requests--Love them or hate them, none would have been possible without the extravagant tours, the progressive hard-hitting music, and the lavish lifestyle of Led Zeppelin. The band gave meaning to the term "rock star," and changed the music business forever. In Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times, A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band, compiled by rock photographer Jerry Prochnicky and Rolling Stone contributing editor Ralph Hulett, the lives of the members of the quintessential rock band are documented and captured from their Denmark debut in 1968 to their last performance in London 2007. The book features many previously unreleased photos.

In December 1968, Led Zeppelin settled on their famous name on their first American tour--they began as The New Yardbirds. Seen here is Jimmy Page, sick with the flu and running a 104 degree temperature, but stoically playing Hollywood's famous Whisky a Go Go. Ever the professional, Page still donned his flashy clothes and played the shows (with a boost from nightly injections from a doctor before each show.)

Impressed at how they blew away crowds in small clubs with their stage antics and heavy sound, photographer Robert Knight helped the band secure their first gig in Hawaii. As the foursome deplaned in Honolulu, Knight took this photo of them clinging to boxes undoubtedly containing what were the tracks that would become Led Zeppelin II; this album was almost entirely recorded on the road. In the year this album was completed--their first as a band--they completed four U.S. and four U.K. concert tours, more extensive than any other band during the time.

Many of Led Zeppelin's recordings were completed while they traveled, so they were lucky to have a member with production experience. Jimmy Page had worked as a studio musician before the formation of the band, which proved invaluable in their recordings. The album, Led Zeppelin II, has been regarded as highly influential to the heavy metal music genre. Pictured, a rare photo of Page mixing that beneficial album with engineer Glyn Johns at Olympic Studios outside of London.

Taken, August 1969, Robert Plant listens to playbacks of his voice during the final mixes for Led Zeppelin II. He concentrated closely on his vocal tone, range, and inflection--he hadn't yet developed the unique wail for which he would later be known. Though he knows that fans most esteem Led Zeppelin's first two albums, Plant still feels that he didn't start singing well until the third album.

The band in December 1969 at London's Savoy Hotel, posing with their many gold record awards for their first and second albums. By early May of 1969, Led Zeppelin's first album was in America's top 10, and would remain on the charts for a jaw-dropping 73 weeks. Chart records were not the only things the band had been breaking during the past year. They were notorious for renting entire sections of hotels and wreaking havoc. John Bonham once rode a motorcycle through the lobby of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles!

As the band's popularity rose, members were able to share the fruits of their labor with the families they left behind while touring. John Paul Jones purchased an estate in Hertfordshire, England, where he could relax with his wife and daughters without being bothered by Led Zeppelin's quickly growing fan base.

In April 1970, at a show backstage in Miami, photographer David LeVine caught the band tuning up in the bathroom. This is one of the last images of Jimmy Page with his prized Gibson Les Paul custom "Black Beauty" model with the tremelo arm--it disappeared during a flight change en route to Canada soon after. Page was known for using up to ten guitars onstage per show, an extravagance unmatched by any other band in the biz--then or now.

In September 1971, Led Zeppelin took its first trip to Japan. By this time they had traveled much of the world. Their tours had become larger than any other band's in the industry. Unfortunately, they still had to travel by train while in Asia, and in order to stave off boredom they terrorized one another--along with their famous music manager, Peter Grant--with pranks.

While in Japan, Led Zeppelin explored Japan's culture with great enthusiasm. All the members bought cameras, capturing their surroundings feverishly. Seen here, Page and Plant are engrossed in the task at hand.

As opposed to many musical acts of the time, especially of their caliber, Led Zeppelin did not kowtow to the press, so it was exciting when they consented to an actual press conference to announce their shows at Tokyo's Budokan. The conference cemented the boys' negative views of the press, thanks to asinine questions from reporters: One interviewer questioned what rock music really was, another asked whether Plant might get a haircut, and the last straw came when someone asked whether Zeppelin's music sounded better on drugs. Plant's response: "Oh, no! That is a stupid question. It is much more interesting to talk about sex and music than drugs and music."

Following the Tokyo press conference, the band were disillusioned with the press, so they released their fourth album with no official album title, group name, company logo, song list, or picture of the band on the cover. Nevertheless, the record, which came to be known as Zoso, Runes, or Led Zeppelin IV, became Zeppelin's biggest seller. Never had the press been left so much in the dark, and much to Page's delight, the music rang out beyond any media hullabaloo. The band is pictured here celebrating the release of the record in a promo photo session.

At the peak of their success, as Zeppelin's tours grew larger and larger, they began chartering private jets to travel across the U.S. This Boeing 707 includes a fireplace among its many amenities.

In February of 1972, Zeppelin made it to Australia, where they played to some of the largest crowds in rock tour history. At the Sydney Showground, the official crowd figure was 25,000--the largest ever to date for a concert Down Under. The band wowed the crowd with their legendary heavy, blues-inspired tunes like "Rock and Roll." but also reminded everyone that they were not to be pigeon-holed with their soft acoustic set, which included "Going to California" and "Tangerine."

All Photos from Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times - A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band from Abrams Books

Copyright 2009 Jerry Prochnicky and Ralph Hulett. Published in 2009 by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS. All Rights Reserved. No photo may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher or photographer.