I'm on the mend, 'living legend' tells fans

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has reassured fans he is making a speedy recovery after fracturing his finger.

The recent accident caused the postponement of the band's eagerly awaited first concert in two decades.

Page, 63, who was honoured with a Living Legend Award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour awards in London last night, told BBC Radio 5 Live he was walking in the dark when he tripped over a stone slab.

"I didn't just come down on my hand, I came down on other parts of my body as well. But of course it was the hand that had a bit of an injury to it," he said. "It's got a fracture in the little finger of the left hand, which is a nuisance 'cos it's really needed. It's just going to take a little while for it to heal, that's all.

"It's not permanent damage. I've broken fingers before, a lot worse than this." He expected to return to rehearsals soon, he said. "We'll make the gig all right and we'll do all the rehearsals too. It's just going to need like two, two and a half weeks."

He said fans could expect to hear the band's classic songs at the concert. "It's pretty much a lot of the songs that people would want to hear. We just got together and started playing and it started to take on its own shape, if you like.

"It's probably what you'd want to hear, and what we want to play too, so that's a great, great chemistry."

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler paid tribute to the guitarist, who also received video messages from Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and guitar legend Les Paul. Meat Loaf cancelled his appearance because of acute laryngitis so his Classic Album award for Bat Out Of Hell was collected by his daughter, Pearl Aday.

Status Quo won the Classic Songwriters title, while Heaven And Hell took Comeback Of The Year and the Metal Guru award went to Tony Iommi, Heaven And Hell and Black Sabbath guitarist.

Pink Floyd's Nick Mason took to the stage to honour long-term collaborator Storm Thorgerson, the graphic designer who created the Dark Side Of The Moon album cover, with an Outstanding Contribution award.