25million fans rush for tickets to Led Zeppelin comeback gig

An incredible 100,000 hits a minute sent the computers into meltdown as the band announced it would reunite for the first time in 19 years for a one-off show at the south-east London venue.

Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones will play at the Tribute To Ahmet Ertegun concert alongside Pete Townshend, Bill Wyman and the Rhythm Kings, Foreigner and Paolo Nutini.

The gig, on Monday 26 November, is in honour of Ahmet Ertegun, who died last year aged 63. Ertegun founded Atlantic Records and had a hand in all their careers.

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Internet service providers are working around the clock to keep the official website, ahmettribute.com, up and running.

Promoter Harvey Goldsmith said today fans should be patient as the website will be open for registration until noon on Monday. He said: "It is not first come, first served."

All the night's proceeds will go to charity, but the announcement has led to speculation that the Seventies superstars will be unable to resist the lure of a lucrative reunion tour, which could net them as much as £70million.

The three original members - Robert Plant, 59, guitarist Jimmy Page, 62, and bassist John Paul Jones, 61 - will be joined at the O2 Millennium Dome by Jason Bonham, the 40-year-old son of the band's late drummer John.

Despite sky-high ticket prices of £125, many nostalgic fans are clearly keen to see the band which led to the website crash.

With such high demand, organisers have decided to offer two tickets per household on a ballot system.

The concert's promoter, Harvey Goldsmith, said the band is approaching the gig extremely seriously.

"They thought about it very carefully, and even decided to actually rehearse for a few days to see if they could play together again," he said.

"I only asked them to do 30 minutes and they came back after a week's rehearsals and said they wanted to do a full show. So they obviously started to bond back together again."

He added: "As far as I'm concerned, this is a one-off show - if something materialises after that, I'll be thrilled."

As well as a forthcoming greatest hits compilation, called The Mothership, the group will also release a special edition DVD showing exclusive footage from the concert.

Ladbrokes last night made the album an odds-on favourite to top the charts.

Nick Weinberg, a spokesman for the bookmakers, said: "Reunion gigs are all the rage at the moment and we reckon Led Zeppelin will make the most of their comeback.

"We fully expect to see their older fans, and a new generation of rock lovers, getting behind the group."

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The band members, who held preliminary rehearsals together in June of this year, have not performed together professionally since 1988.

They split shortly after drummer Bonham died in 1980 after a drinking binge.

Since then, they have performed only a handful of gigs, including Live Aid in 1985.

It is understood that Jones in particular was not keen to perform as part of Led Zeppelin again.

The band sold more than 300million albums worldwide and in 1995 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.