George Blackburn, Illinois Man Who Changed His Name To Led Zeppelin II, Dies At 64

Led Zeppelin II, a resident of Bethalto, Ill., died from a heart attack on May 18 at the age of 64.

Born George Blackburn in 1947, the avid Zep' fan and longtime Chicago resident saw the British hard rock band perform about 20 times during its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s, according to Noisecreep.

Mindy Baker of Seattle, one of Zeppelin's two daughters, told the Chicago Tribune that he had his name legally changed last fall following his third divorce.

"My mom says that he talked about it for probably five years before the divorce," she said.

Zeppelin also did some redecorating following the divorce, covering his living room in classic rock LP records.

In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about his name change last fall, Zeppelin said that the band "changed his life," and cited a particular 1960s performance of the band in Chicago as a personal turning point.

Zeppelin collapsed in an auto parts store in Bethalto on May 18, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The owner of the store told the Sun-Times that a Led Zeppelin song was playing at the time of the man's collapse.

Released in 1969, the album "Led Zeppelin II" was the first of the English supergroup's albums to top the charts in the United States. It included the hit songs "Whole Lotta Love" and "Ramble On," and has been called a "blueprint" for the heavy metal bands that would follow it.