“That’s how he kept coming”: how Peter Grant kept a reluctant John Bonham in Led Zeppelin
At the end of the 1960s, The Beatles were on their way out, leaving the rock ‘n’ roll throne up for grabs. The Rolling Stones and The Who were well-established competitors, but as trends shifted, fans became increasingly besotted with heavier rock artists. Around this time, three bands crucial to the dawning age of heavy metal, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, cropped up on Britain’s fertile pastures.
Often referred to as the Unholy Trinity, these three British bands brought a metallic nuance to contemporary rock trends and plenty of enduring guitar riffs. Jimmy Page got early fans headbanging with ‘Whole Lotta Love’, Ritchie Blackmore with ‘Smoke on the Water’ and Tony Iommi with ‘Paranoid’. Besides killer riffs, these bands also relied heavily upon thunderous percussion.
Although Ian Paice and Bill Ward are well-respected in the drumming community, very few rock percussionists receive praise on the level of John Bonham. Combine his talent with the vocal virtuosity of Robert Plant, the bass command of John Paul Jones and the guitar skills of Mr Page, and you have yourself one hell of a rock band.
Out of the Unholy Trinity bands, Led Zeppelin surfaced as the most popular worldwide. While they maintained a heavy metal aspect, the group became increasingly associated with the prog-rock wave, thanks to progressive and complex compositions like ‘Four Sticks’ and ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
As Led Zeppelin morphed into a stadium tour behemoth, Bonham struggled increasingly with fame and turned to the bottle in troughs of depression. Speaking to Classic Rock in 2016, Blackmore of Deep Purple reflected on his friendship with Bonham, recalling his tendency to provoke argument when under the influence. “I used to be very friendly with Bonzo from Led Zeppelin,” he began.
Continuing, the Deep Purple guitarist recalled how a friendly drink once spiralled into an argument. “We’d be sitting drinking in the Rainbow [bar in LA] – and he’d be really up and drunk or really depressed – and he’d be looking at the table,” Blackmore remembered. Bonham then attacked the guitarist by joking about the simplicity of his ‘Smoke on the Water’ riff. In return, Blackmore accused Led Zeppelin of stealing the ‘Whole Lotta Love’ groove from Jimi Hendrix’s version of ‘Hey Joe’.
Fortunately, any resentment didn’t linger as the two musicians reconciled in the toilet. “We’re both there, weeing away, and he says: ‘Rich, did you mean all that?’ I said: ‘No, not really, I was just having a go back at you,’” Blackmore added. “He says: ‘Oh. I didn’t mean it either. There’s room at the top for everybody.’ So we carried on weeing, then went downstairs and started drinking again.”
While Bonham was proud to be among the greatest drummers of all time in one of the greatest rock outfits, Blackmore recalled on a separate occasion that he struggled with fame. “John Bonham would always tell Zeppelin: ‘I’m leaving the band. I can’t go back to America again. I can’t do that.’”
By the mid-1970s, Bonham had achieved success beyond his wildest dreams and wanted to change pace. Touring the world was a taxing experience, especially when one had two children back at home. However, the band’s manager always made attractive propositions to lure the drummer back to the band. “So, Peter Grant used to go, ‘Hey, come to the garage. I want to show you something.’ He’d go, ‘What?’ They’d go to his garage, and there’s a new Lamborghini, just what Bonzo wanted,” Blackmore continued. “That’s how he kept coming.”
Sadly, Bingham’s mental state continued to falter between fame and excess. “There were a couple of moments there where he ended up crying because he wanted to go home,” Blackmore revealed. “He didn’t want to be in America, missed his wife, didn’t want to be in a big band. He wanted to be in a small band in Birmingham, just playing. He didn’t care about all that fame.”
Tragically, John Bonham passed away in September 1980 from pulmonary asphyxiation following a heavy drinking session. He was just 32 at the time and added his name to a growing list of rock stars who burned out on the road under the excessive pressure the vocation seemed to exert.
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