Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page has said that the coronavirus pandemic made him think about making a return to performing live.

Speaking in a new interview, the legendary guitarist, who has been planning a live comeback for the past few years, revealed that being in lockdown inspired him to think about getting back out on the road.

“When we first went into lockdown I thought, ‘Right, now’s the time to start thinking about coming back at some point and being able to perform’,” he told GQ in its December print issue.

He added that the cancellation of concerts all over the world in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 has strengthened his belief that “music means nothing” without live shows.

Elsewhere in the interview, Page talked about the future of the arts, saying that he is “worried” about what the lack of opportunities to perform live will to do new artists on the rise.

“It’s such a very sad and desperate time and what this virus has done internationally to families, to the arts, and everything we love and hold dear and the whole concert situation, it does worry me,” he said. “I will never be one of those people who’ll record alone and send someone a file. I never went into music in the first place to do that, it was for playing together and this is what it means.”

“We need to play with people, we need gigs and we need community. Because without that, music means nothing,” he continued. “Playing live is so important for young musicians. When we were young, we all had these little gigs, hoping to play somewhere bigger and it’s such an important part of that communion of musicians playing together.”

He concluded: “For me it’s always been the most important thing.”

Last month, Page revealed that Led Zeppelin originally planned a whole tour after reuniting for a one-off show in 2007.

The rock icons – Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones – joined forces with Jason Bonham, the son of late drummer John, for a one-off show at The O2 in London 13 years ago as part of a tribute to the late Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun.

Meanwhile, a trailer for Jimmy Page’s new book The Anthology has been released – you can watch it here.