Before the year was over, Zeppelin signed a contract with Atlantic Records and set out to tour the States. When Led Zeppelin came out in January 1969, it only took two months for it to catch on like wildfire. The album soared to the top of the charts and Led Zeppelin, with their heavy, free-form, psychedelic style of rock, began their ascent to god-like status. Touring endlessly through that year, Zeppelin recorded their second album, Led Zeppelin II, on the road. Like the first album, Led Zeppelin II hit the No. 1 spot and stayed there for seven weeks. In support of the album, Zeppelin hit the road and didn't stop for a full year. Taking a step back from hard rock, the band focused more on the mystical aspects of British folk music for their third album, Led Zeppelin III, which came out in October 1970. But it wasn't until the untitled album (referred to as "Led Zeppelin IV") was released in November of 1971 that the band fully captured the folk spirit. It was also on this untitled album that the band produced their most popular classic songs like "Stairway To Heaven," "Rock & Roll" and "When The Levee Breaks". This became the band's biggest album, selling more than 16 million copies over the course of 25 years.
In the spring of 1973, the band broke from their traditional album-naming convention with the release of Houses of the Holy. Here traces of funk and reggae experimentation can be heard melded with the already well-known rock and folk sound. This album debuted at No. 1 both in America and England. In 1973 there was filmed the concert of Led Zeppelin in Madison Square Garden and three years after, in connection with the premiere of the film, double album, The Song Remains The Same, was released. To better accommodate their recording needs in 1974 Led Zeppelin formed their own label, Swan Song. Zeppelin would record all their albums on Swan Song from this point including the double album Physical Graffiti, Presence and In Through The Out Door, the band's eighth and final studio album.
Following the successful release of In Through The Out Door, Zeppelin toured Europe for one last time - in August 1980 the band performed their last common concert in the hall Eissporthall in West Berlin. In September 1980, the group rehearsed in preparation of an America leg of their tour. On September 25, John Bonham was found dead in his bed after choking on his own vomit following an all-day drinking binge. In December of that same year, the surviving members of the band reported that without Bonham Led Zeppelin could not be a band, and broke up.