For life goes fast, and I can still see you in my mind's eye wearing crisp white dresses in a stranger's backyard, looking like little Mother Mary's, smiling and laughing into the sun." So thank you thank you thank you Ali and LySandra, we adore you, and having you be a part of today's launch brings tears to my eyes. Which tells me their coming together, and the beauty that Melodie's shot captures, of youth and innocence, was meant to be SP's own, personal lucky star. What's amazing is their chemistry with one another still leaps through the camera to this day and yet if memory serves they'd never met before that Siamese shoot. Never realizing that this moment in time would forever tie us, and go on to become such an iconic image in rock history.
He wrote: "On such a special day in SP history, I want to take a moment to thank Ali and LySandra, who you might know were the little girls that I stood by and watched have their picture taken some 23 years ago (on what was a perfect LA afternoon). When the classic Smashing Pumpkins line-up reformed for a tour in 2018, Billy Corgan shared a photo of Laenger and Roberts as adults recreating the iconic artwork. The two young girls on the cover of The Smashing Pumpkins are called Ali Laenger and Lysandra Roberts. The Smashing Pumpkins – 'Siamese Dream' (1993) Brian Edwards said: "Led Zeppelin created the soundtrack that has accompanied me since my teenage years, so I really hope the discovery of this Victorian photograph pleases and entertains Robert, Jimmy, and John Paul." At the time the photograph was taken, Lot was a widower living in a small cottage in Shaftesbury Road, Mere. The man in the photo was a thatcher called Lot Long who was born in the market town of Mere, Wiltshire in 1823 and died in 1893. A present to Auntie from Ernest' by photographer Ernest Farmer. In 2023, Brian Edwards, from the University of the West of England (UWE), discovered the original image in a late Victorian photograph album called 'Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Robert Plant bought the framed colourised photo that adorns the cover of 'Led Zeppelin IV' at an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire, however for over half a century the man's identity remained a mystery.
On the 52nd anniversary of the release of 'Led Zeppelin IV' on 8th November 2023, it was revealed that the man on the cover was a 19th Century thatcher from Wiltshire called Lot Long. “Once again a big thank you for being there for me.” It’s as if you all joined together to create this great big virtual blanket to wrap around my shoulders and give me a hug, much needed at times. It has been incredible and I’ve felt very loved and cared about. “I can’t thank you enough for all the love, warmth, positivity and genuine concern you’ve all shown me in the messages that both Fiona and I have received. It is of course incredibly painful for quite a few days after, but now at home with a good balance of pain relief to aid me I am doing great considering. “However I never doubted the surgery or the team and was completely confident in their abilities all the way through. I didn’t expect to need the surgery if I’m honest, I thought the angiogram would show I needed more stents. Yes, it’s been tough and I had good and bad days, along with Fiona who has probably suffered more than I have. “The people at Harefield were amazing and I had the best care possible. As we are writing and recording this year I have a nice environment to get back to it all. Four weeks after surgery I should be able to start getting my fitness and stamina back, starting slowly.Īt six weeks I can drive and at that point I shall start a phased return back to the studio. “As I had a couple of issues I spent five days in hospital and am now at home on the way to full recovery, which I expect to achieve over the next few weeks to few months. Commonly known as a CABG and pronounced like the vegetable! This was done at Harefield Hospital and although invasive it is a very routine procedure for them and recovery time is usually four or five days before being discharged. “So, I had a triple coronary bypass graft.