I was asked to do the Olympic closing ceremony in Beijing in 2008, handing over the baton to London for 2012. There were people telling me I shouldn’t do it because it would taint my career, but I didn’t agree. It was about the Olympics and London and the event would be spectacular.

The organisers said they’d like me to play Whole Lotta Love, with Leona Lewis to sing and David Beckham involved as well. I was worried they would want to only play the riff. But they said, ‘We want the whole song just as it is on the record.’ So I said, ‘Absolutely, yes, I’d love to do that.’

The plan was for us to play on this London bus with a hydraulic system: the roof would open and we would be revealed on a platform that rose up. I was really nervous because I don’t like heights. Leona was fearless. Meanwhile, I was tentatively moving towards the edge, because I didn’t want to look petrified.

It was unbearably hot in Beijing. I looked at Leona and gave her a wink as if to say, ‘Here we go, this is torture, but let’s go out and do this.’

We did it and there was a remarkable reaction. David Beckham’s part was to kick a ball from the bus and make it land with the Chinese team. He said it was one of the most testing shots he’d ever had to strike because he didn’t want to get someone on the Chilean team instead.

– Jimmy Page