John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician who was the drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Noted for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential drummers in history.
Bonham was born in 1948 in Redditch, Worcestershire, and took up drums at age 5, receiving a snare drum at age 10 and a full drum set at age 15. He played with multiple local bands both at school and following school, eventually playing in two different bands with Robert Plant. Following the demise of the Yardbirds in 1968, Bonham joined Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page and bass guitarist John Paul Jones to form Led Zeppelin.
Bonham showcased a hard-hitting hard rock style, but also handled funk and Latin-influenced grooves in later Led Zeppelin releases. Like Keith Moon of the Who, Bonham's drum set grew in size following the band's 1969 concert tours, including congas or timpani and a gong. His drum solo "Moby Dick" was featured on the group's second album and was a staple of their concerts, often lasting just over 20 minutes. Outside of Led Zeppelin, Bonham played drums for other artists, including the Family Dogg, Screaming Lord Sutch, Lulu, Jimmy Stevens and Wings. Bonham played with Led Zeppelin until his death at age 32, in September 1980 following a day of heavy drinking. The surviving members disbanded the group out of respect for Bonham.
A mostly self-taught drummer, Bonham was influenced by Max Roach, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. While he was primarily known for his hard-rock style during his lifetime, his reputation as a drummer has grown beyond that genre following his death. He has influenced various drummers, including Dave Grohl, Neil Peart, Chad Smith and Dave Lombardo. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of Led Zeppelin. In 2016, Rolling Stone named him the greatest drummer of all time.
Early life
John Henry Bonham was born on 31 May 1948, in Redditch, Worcestershire, England, to Joan and Jack Bonham. He began learning to play drums at age five, making a kit of containers and coffee tins, imitating his idols Max Roach, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. His mother gave him a snare drum when he was 10. He received his first drum kit, a Premier Percussion set, from his father at age 15. Bonham never took formal drum lessons, although he received advice from other Redditch drummers. While at school, between 1962 and 1963, Bonham joined the Blue Star Trio and Gerry Levene & the Avengers.Bonham attended Lodge Farm Secondary Modern School, where his headmaster wrote in his report that he would "either end up a dustman or a millionaire." After leaving school in 1964, he worked for his father as an apprentice carpenter between drumming for local bands. In 1964, Bonham joined his first semi-professional band, Terry Webb and the Spiders, and met his future wife, Pat Phillips, around the same time. He played in other Birmingham bands such as The Nicky James Movement and The Senators, with whom he made a single, "She's a Mod", in 1964, at Hollick and Taylor Studios in Birmingham. Bonham took up drumming full-time. Two years later, he joined A Way of Life. After the band's demise, Bonham joined a blues group called Crawling King Snakes, whose lead singer was Robert Plant.
In 1967, Bonham agreed to return to A Way of Life while keeping in touch with Plant. Plant formed Band of Joy and chose Bonham as the drummer. The band recorded demos but no album. In 1968, American singer Tim Rose toured Britain and asked Band of Joy to open his concerts. When Rose returned months later, Bonham joined Rose's band. Bonham may have played on the April 1968 recording of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" although this is disputed.
Career
Led Zeppelin
After the breakup of the Yardbirds in July 1968, guitarist Jimmy Page formed another band and recruited Plant, who in turn suggested Bonham. Page's choices for drummer included Procol Harum's B. J. Wilson and Paul Francis. However, on seeing Bonham drum for Tim Rose at a club in Hampstead, north London, in July 1968, Page and manager Peter Grant were convinced he was perfect for the project, first known as the New Yardbirds and later as Led Zeppelin. Bonham was initially reluctant. Plant sent eight telegrams to Bonham's pub, the "Three Men in a Boat", in Walsall, which were followed by 40 telegrams from Grant. Bonham was also receiving more lucrative offers from Joe Cocker and Chris Farlowe but he accepted Grant's offer. He recalled, "I decided I liked their music better than Cocker's or Farlowe's."File:Zoso John Bonham sigil three intersecting circles.svg|thumb|Bonham's occult sigil of three intersecting circles, one of four for the band's members, appearing on the otherwise unmarked, unlabeled Led Zeppelin IV album|172x172px
During Led Zeppelin's first tour of the United States in December 1968, Bonham became friends with Vanilla Fudge's drummer, Carmine Appice. Appice introduced him to Ludwig drums, which he then used for the rest of his career. His hard hitting was evident on many Led Zeppelin songs, including "Moby Dick", "Immigrant Song", "When the Levee Breaks", "Kashmir", "The Ocean", and "Achilles Last Stand". Page let Bonham use a double bass drum in an early demo of "Communication Breakdown" but scratched the track because of Bonham's "over-use" of it. The studio recording of "Misty Mountain Hop" captures his dynamics, similarly exhibited on "No Quarter". On cuts from later albums, Bonham handled funk and Latin-influenced drumming. Songs like "Royal Orleans" and "Fool in the Rain" are examples, respectively displaying a New Orleans shuffle and a half-time shuffle.
His drum solo, first entitled "Pat's Delight", later "Moby Dick", often lasted 20 minutes. In some sections, he used his bare hands on his drums to imitate the sound of a phased hand drum. Bonham's sequence for the film The Song Remains the Same featured him in a drag race at Santa Pod Raceway to the sound of his solo, "Moby Dick". In Led Zeppelin tours after 1969, Bonham included congas, orchestral timpani and a symphonic gong.
Other projects
In 1969, Bonham appeared on The Family Dogg's A Way of Life, with Page and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Bonham also played for Screaming Lord Sutch on Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends in 1970. He played on Lulu's 1971 single "Everybody Clap", written by Maurice Gibb and Billy Lawrie. In 1972, he played on a Maurice Gibb-produced album by Jimmy Stevens called Don't Freak Me Out in the UK and Paid My Dues in the US, credited as "Gemini". He drummed for his Birmingham friend, Roy Wood, on "Keep Your Hands on the Wheel", a single subsequently released on his 1979 album, On the Road Again, and on Wings' album Back to the Egg on the tracks "Rockestra Theme" and "So Glad to See You Here". He was also featured on Paul McCartney & Wings' "Beware My Love" demo version first recorded in 1975; it remained unreleased until 2014 with the release of the album Wings at the Speed of Sound boxset. Bonham was the best man of Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi at his wedding ceremony.In 1974, Bonham appeared in the film Son of Dracula, playing drums in Count Downe's band. Bonham appeared in a drum line-up including Keith Moon and Ringo Starr on the soundtrack album.
Personal life
Bonham had a younger brother, Mick Bonham, a disc jockey, author and photographer, and a younger sister, Deborah Bonham, a singer-songwriter. Bonham's mother, Joan, died aged 85–86 on 10 February 2011. She sang for the Zimmers, a 40-member band set up as a result of a BBC documentary on the treatment of the elderly.Bonham was married to Pat Phillips, and the couple had two children. Zoë Bonham is a singer-songwriter who appears at Led Zeppelin conventions. Jason Bonham is a drummer who has recorded or toured with Sammy Hagar and the Circle, Black Country Communion, UFO, Foreigner, and Bonham. A 1973 film clip of seven-year-old Jason playing drums appears in the Led Zeppelin film The Song Remains the Same. Jason played with Led Zeppelin at their Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary reunion show on 15 May 1988 and again on 10 December 2007 at the Ahmet Ertegun Tribute Concert. He also played in the band that performed "Stairway to Heaven" at Led Zeppelin's 2012 Kennedy Center Honors award ceremony. Zoë and Jason appeared at the induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin.
Death
On 24 September 1980, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for a tour of North America, to begin on 17 October in Montreal; it was the band's first American tour since 1977. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he drank four quadruple vodka screwdrivers. He continued to drink heavily at rehearsals. The band stopped rehearsing late in the evening and then went to Page's house, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight, Bonham fell asleep; someone took him to bed and placed him on his side. Jones and the tour manager Benji LeFevre found Bonham unresponsive the following afternoon. He was pronounced dead at 32 years old.The inquest on 27 October 1980 showed that in 24 hours, Bonham had consumed around 40 shots of 40% ABV vodka, after which he vomited and choked, a condition known as pulmonary aspiration. The finding was accidental death. A post-mortem found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's body. According to Rolling Stone, Bonham had recently overcome a heroin problem and was taking an unspecified medication for anxiety and depression at the time of his death.
Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980 in the graveyard at St Michael’s Church, Rushock, Worcestershire. Rather than replace Bonham, Led Zeppelin chose to disband. They said in a press release on 4 December 1980: "We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were."