Carmine Appice denies he was asked to join Led Zeppelin following John Bonham’s death
Carmine Appice has revealed that there was, in fact, no truth to the rumours that he was set to join Led Zeppelin in 1980. However, he would have done so if he had been offered.
The legendary rock drummer was appearing on the latest episode of the Talk Louder podcast, in which he reflected on the highs of an illustrious career that have included playing with the likes of Vanilla Fudge, Beck, and Rod Stewart.
However, when subsequently asked if there was any substance to the speculation that swirled back in 1980 that he was set to join the ranks of the iconic British hard rock band, following the death of drummer John Bonham, Appice put those rumours to bed.
Having been directly asked about the truth of the matter, Appice responded (per Blabbermouth): “It was rumoured,” before going on to recall how the speculation had the odds between him and Cozy Powell, of Rainbow fame among other bands.
Reflecting on whether he would have joined the band if the call had come, the drummer added: “I would’ve, but I was with Rod. It’s not like I was with nobody. We’d just finished doing six nights at the Forum [in Los Angeles].”
He continued: “So, Rod said to me, ‘Are you gonna join Led Zeppelin?’ I said, ‘Not that I know of.’ I said, ‘I know there’s rumours, but I never got a call or nothing.’ He said, ‘Oh, that’s good. Let’s keep [the rumours] going. There’s rumours that I’m gonna retire, so let’s keep it going. We’ll just sell more tickets.’ I said, ‘OK.’ So that’s what we did. But I was never asked.”
In the end, of course, no one came to replace Bonham in Led Zeppelin, as they felt they could no longer continue without their drummer and subsequently disbanded in December 1980, four months after his death that September.
Despite not ultimately joining the band, Appice had been a huge influence on Bonham throughout his career, after he got the Led Zeppelin musician a Ludwig drum kit endorsement on their first US tour in 1968.
“I got John Bonham a Ludwig endorsement, the same drums that I had, which were big 26 bass drums – a totally unique Ludwig kit that started all these crazy sizes. Bonzo saw it and loved it, so I got him the endorsement,” he recalled in 2004.
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