Jimmy Page reportedly held talks to reunite his band The Firm in 2007 but cancelled the idea because of the reunion of Led Zeppelin, according to drummer Chris Slade.

Slade, who was the drummer in The Firm, told eonmusic in an interview published on September 24 that “we were going to try to get back together.”

“Tony and Pagey were talking about it, and he said; ‘oh, you know, it could happen’, and I said; ‘oh, I’ll keep my fingers crossed!’, but it never happened, and never will, in my opinion,” Slade continued.

Page formed The Firm in 1984 with Slade on drums, singer Paul Rodgers and bass player Tony Franklin. The band released two albums before disbanding in 1986.

“Tony and I were not part of those discussions; they were between Pagey, Paul and the management,” Slade added.

The potential reunion of the band collapsed because Led Zeppelin reunited in 2007 to perform a one-off reunion show as a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, however.

“There was a period, and this little band you’ve never heard of, I’m sure, called Led Zeppelin got back together. Silly name that, but yeah, I heard they were quite good! So the Firm got knocked on the head,” Slade said.

Rodgers has been an advocate for Page returning to performing live, telling Eddie Trunk in 2019 that “he still plays fantastically but he’s just got to get out there.”

“I think the longer you leave it, actually, the harder it is to come back to and he’s leaving it and leaving it and saying ‘Oh, maybe next time, maybe next time,’ and I always encourage him to get out there and just play, but we’ll see,” Rodgers continued.

Rodgers was on stage in Seattle on November 19, 2015 when Page joined at all-star jam at the Founders Award event, one of his last live performances.