US President Barack Obama has praised Led Zeppelin after honouring them with coveted Kennedy Centre Honours.

The British rock band achieved great success in the 1970s with tracks like 'Stairway To Heaven' and they took America by storm.

On Sunday night (November 2), the three remaining members - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - were given the Kennedy awards in recognition of their contribution to American culture. In a speech, Obama said:

"When Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and [late drummer] John Bonham burst onto the musical scene in the late 1960s, the world never saw it coming. There was this singer with a mane like a lion and a voice like a banshee, a guitar prodigy who left people's jaws on the floor, a versatile bassist who was equally at home on the keyboards, a drummer who played like his life depended on it."

He continued: "And when the Brits initially kept their distance, Led Zeppelin grabbed America from the opening chord. We were ready for what Jimmy called songs with 'a lot of light and shade'. It's been said that a generation of young people survived teenage angst with a pair of headphones and a Zeppelin album...but even now, 32 years after John Bonham's passing - and we all I think appreciate the fact - the Zeppelin legacy lives on."

The band meanwhile are set to appear on David Letterman's chat show tonight (December 3) for a sit-down interview.

Led Zeppelin reformed for a one-off reunion gig at London's O2 Arena in 2007 but despite constant rumours, a permanent reformation has not yet taken place.