“What year was the song ‘Whole Lotta Love’ released?” — The answer is 1969. Led Zeppelin released the song as a single in several countries on 7 November 1969, shortly after it appeared on the album Led Zeppelin II.
The song opens Led Zeppelin’s second album and became one of the band’s signature recordings. Jimmy Page’s heavily processed guitar riff, Robert Plant’s vocal and the dramatic middle section—with electronic effects, percussion and theremin—gave it a much larger sound than a conventional blues-rock single. The recording sessions took place in London and Los Angeles during April 1969.
Listeners sometimes answer 1970 because the song remained a major hit into the following year, and release details varied by country. In the United States, the edited single became Led Zeppelin’s first major hit and reached the Billboard Hot 100. The band did not ultimately release a regular single in the United Kingdom, where an edited pressing planned for December 1969 was cancelled. That regional difference does not change the song’s original release year: 1969.