Led Zeppelin III is the eponymous third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records in the United States and on 23 October 1970 in the United Kingdom. The songs were recorded using The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, Headley Grange, and Hampshire Island Studios Olympic Studios, London. The album represented a maturing of the band’s music towards a greater emphasis on folk and acoustic sounds. This surprised many fans and critics, and upon its release the album received rather indifferent reviews.

Led Zeppelin III is generally praised and acknowledged as representing an important milestone in the band’s history, and a turning point in their music. Although acoustic songs had been featured on its predecessors, this album showed that Led Zeppelin were more than just a conventional rock band, and that they could branch out into wider musical territory, like folk.

Derek and the Dominos, the collaborative band that created Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, grew out of Eric Clapton’s frustration with the hype associated with his previous bands, the supergroups Cream and Blind Faith.