Since Saturday rumors have circulated that Led Zeppelin and Metallica have been booked as two of Bonnaroos three headlining acts. The flurry of speculation began after the industry newsletter published by Bob Lefsetz included an anonymous letter which said, Zeppelin just confirmed for Bonnaroo. They can’t officially announce until after the London gig so pass it on! Also Metallica is confirmed on the bill too! While there has been no official word from the festivals promoters, Led Zeppelin will likely play a limited number of US tour dates this summer after reuniting for a benefit gig on December 10. Some fans have pointed out, however, that Robert Plants availability will be limited due to an upcoming outing with Alison Krauss and the group has stated on several occasions that no future gigs have been booked for 2008. Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones made his Bonnaroo debut last June, sitting-in with Govt Mule, Ben Harper, Gillian Welch, Uncle Earl and participating in the festivals annual SuperJam. Led Zeppelins last US performance took place on May 5, 1988 at Madison Square Garden as part of Atlantic Records’ 40th Anniversary celebration.

As pointed out by the blog Hidden Track, a source at Metallicas at Q Prime Management has ‘flat-out denied’ that the metal-icons will play Bonnaroo, though others believe the groups management is just be hoping to delay the announcement until Bonnaroos lineup is published in early 2008. Metallica will release its first studio album since 2003 next year.

Bonnaroo has booked an eclectic mix of headliners over the years, including Neil Young, The Police, The Dead, Radiohead, Tool, Dave Matthews Band and Dave Matthews & Friends, various incarnations of Trey Anastasios solo band, Tom Petty and Widespread Panic, who has played the festivals marquee headlining spot six times since the festivals inception in 2002. Since 2006, the festival seems to have settled on one headliner from the rock/metal camp, one headliner from the classic-rock circuit and one headliner from the jamband realm each spring.