"Ship of Fools" is a rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 song performed by English rock singer Robert Plant

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

. It was the second single released from his 1988 album Now and Zen

Now and Zen

Now and Zen is an album by the former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, released in 1988 under the label Es Paranza. The album made the top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK, reaching #6 in the former, and #10 in the latter...

, following "Heaven Knows

Heaven Knows (Robert Plant song)

"Heaven Knows" is a rock song performed by English rock singer Robert Plant. It was the first single to be released from his 1988 album Now and Zen. It reached number 33 on the UK singles chart and number 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

". It reached number 76 on the UK singles chart, number 84 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and number 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. It was Plant's tenth top-ten solo hit on the Mainstream Rock chart.

The song was written by Plant and keyboardist Phil Johnstone

Phil Johnstone

Phil Johnstone is a songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist and record producer, best known for his work with singer Robert Plant. His songwriting credits include Plant's number-one Mainstream Rock hits "Heaven Knows", "Tall Cool One" and "Hurting Kind ".- Details :Johnstone first worked with Plant on...

, who also co-produced Now and Zen.
In an allmusic review of Now and Zen, reviewer Vik Iyengar singles "Ship of Fools" out for praise, calling the song a "lovely ballad" that demonstrates Plant's "vocal subtlety."