On 24 September 1980, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for an upcoming tour of the United States—the band’s first since 1977. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he drank four quadruple vodkas (sixteen shots, between 400–560 ml). He then continued to drink heavily after arriving at the rehearsals. A halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Page’s house, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight on the 25th, Bonham fell asleep and was taken to bed and placed on his side. Benji LeFevre (who had replaced Richard Cole as Led Zeppelin’s tour manager) and John Paul Jones found him dead the next afternoon.[17] Bonham was 32 years old.
John Bonham playing Moby Dick.
Sigh.
I was in high school, looking forward to my first Led Zeppelin concert just a few weeks away. After classes, as I was gathering my books, I noticed I was hearing an awful lot of different Zeppelin music coming from different radios around the hallways. That is when we heard that Bonham had died.
To this day, I am amazed at the broad range of music Led Zeppelin created.
I am still amazed with that big thundering drum sound he brought to Zeppelin.
God bless John Henry Bonham (and his family)!
May he rest in peace.
Mack McCarthy
Portland, Oregon
Same here, my H.S. buds all ponied up our $ in anticipation of the tickets soon to go on sale, but unfortunately the news of John Henry Bonham hit :(. Years afterwards I did have the chance to see Robert in a few outstanding tours. As well, in ’85, Jimmy accompanied the Beach Boys( yup, you read it right :P) at an outdoor event by the art museum in Philadelphia, Pa. If any of you have a chance, pull up a YouTube recording of John Paul Jones playing a mandolin instrumental of ‘Going to California’, amaaaazing.
It woulda been darn nice to see Zeppelin live, but nonetheless, it’s an honor to have lived in the same era as this powerful band.
m/ Thanks for the Music Boys m/
m/ long live Led Zeppelin m/
He was one of the reasons I decided to include the drum kit in my percussion playing (previously just snare, suspended bass, timpani, etc…)
Was on a 3 1/2 month trip to Europe in 1980. Saw Led Zeppelin June 30, 1980 in Frankfurt, Germany on what turned out to be their last tour. Page was semi-wasted, still sounded great on most songs. Bonham was amazing! He sounded even better live than studio.
It’s sad that he was only 32 when he passed. He left his family far too early. His feel for music was uncanny. God truly Blessed him with much talent.
🙂 thanks for posting this, Jim. Fantastic stuff, man. 😉
RIP – Best drummer ever! There is a good Bonzo site http://www.johnbonham.co.uk/ with some clippings from newspapers in the week after his death.