Led Zeppelin turned down a personal invite from Bill Clinton to reunite for a fundraising gig last year.

Organisers of a Hurricane Sandy concert on December 12 last year at Madison Square Garden have revealed that they went to some length to convince 70s rockers Zeppelin to reform once more.

However, the quartet - who played a one-off show in London in 2007 in tribute to late Atlantic Records man Ahmet Ertegun - flatly turned down the offer.

Robin Hood Foundation executive director David Saltzman told CBS News: "There were two bands that we were trying desperately to recruit, one was Rolling Stones, the other was Led Zeppelin. [Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein] had this great idea that we could enlist Bill Clinton to convince Led Zeppelin to reunite to perform at the 12-12-12 concert."

He continued: "So, Harvey and I got on a plane to fly down to Washington to meet with President Clinton who was going to be seeing the members of Led Zeppelin, who were being honoured at the Kennedy Center. And, you know, the president was terrific. He goes, 'I really want to do this. This would be a fantastic thing. I love Led Zeppelin'. And Bill Clinton himself asked Led Zeppelin to reunite. And they wouldn't do it."

Acts that did play the event included the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi.