BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Topping of the year of ageing rockers' comebacks, Led Zepplin rounded off the year in early December with a joyous return to the stage in London 27 years after the band broke up in 1980 after drummer John Bonham died.

    Most fans had assumed they would never take the stage together again -- but in September they announced the reunion for a tribute to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, who signed the band four decades ago and died last year.

    The Police surprised by announcing their reunion after more than 20 years apart, though most fans believed personal resentments at the heart of the group would prevent a comeback.

    Singer Sting and drummer Stewart Copeland once came to blows during a tour of the United States and had reportedly refused to be in the same studio together while recording a "best of" album in 1986.

    Phil Collins got together with his Genesis band mates again (minus Peter Gabriel) for a giant tour, Lou Reed was back performing, and Van Halen announced concerts for the first time in 22 years with original singer David Lee Roth.

    The Sex Pistols played a concert in London on Nov. 8 and Black Sabbath under the name of Heaven and Hell and The Eagles were also part of the so-called "heritage act" revival.

    Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, and what remains of The Doors, also headed once more for the road, drawing fans to often expensively priced concerts for an opportunity to relive the past.

    Alexis Petridis, chief music writer for Britain's The Guardian newspaper, summed up how former stars upstaged newcomers this year with his thoughts on Britain's Glastonbury festival, one of the biggest music events in the world.

    "There was something troubling about returning home with the knowledge that the most exciting, unpredictable, iconoclastic thing you saw all weekend was not a thrilling new artist, but a sixtysomething heritage-rock act," he wrote.

    (Agencies)