Rock fact: Led Zeppelin was named because Keith Moon of The Who said they would go over "like a lead balloon."
Lead is of course a heavy metal, and the idiom indicates that a balloon made of lead would not fly. Moon was suggesting the band had no chance to be popular.
But! In a 2008 episode of The Mythbusters, they were able to construct a balloon made of lead and float it! And, in fact, Led Zeppelin went on to become a very popular rock band.
Robert W. Gehl
npub1jh…t35pm
2025-05-10 15:23:45 UTC
in reply to nevent1q…u8p4
Author Public Key
npub1jhf0njgd4wxygrxar687yz3h7ryluz93s8dxuq4xrldqgdc03lxsxt35pmSeen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2025-05-10 15:23:45 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "ff688918ae7d598e1de14c7d134e25f2f9dcdcf23dee77be5467067eae7c21ff",
"pubkey": "95d2f9c90dab8c440cdd1e8fe20a37f0c9fe08b181da6e02a61fda04370f8fcd",
"created_at": 1746890625,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://aoir.social/@rwg/114484224012085469",
"web"
],
[
"e",
"54241f2bb42a65ea06535e07684d4f3349d091d3677575fd878c07c81a9a31bb",
"",
"root",
"2927a3ab9cfeb7e3837455a5836bcb2053431de5b1c74807546a8b638c2616e1"
],
[
"p",
"2927a3ab9cfeb7e3837455a5836bcb2053431de5b1c74807546a8b638c2616e1"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://aoir.social/users/rwg/statuses/114484224012085469",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://aoir.social/users/rwg/statuses/114484224012085469",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "Rock fact: Led Zeppelin was named because Keith Moon of The Who said they would go over \"like a lead balloon.\"\n\nLead is of course a heavy metal, and the idiom indicates that a balloon made of lead would not fly. Moon was suggesting the band had no chance to be popular.\n\nBut! In a 2008 episode of The Mythbusters, they were able to construct a balloon made of lead and float it! And, in fact, Led Zeppelin went on to become a very popular rock band.",
"sig": "a99b2257421e9dacc8fc29511d49397ab7c20eeac1decfba95eee6aa43e863f5a8cd60f2d65a83d51d86e15eb9dbdac1fbec53ec4a1f6a87ab9402a4d4df432e"
}