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The Led Zeppelin songs without John Bonham on drums

Fri 31 October 2025 17:50, UK

Led Zeppelin is a band that proved the concept of serendipity, as for them, things lined up perfectly.

Jimmy Page was ambitious with his approach to Led Zeppelin. Following years of playing guitar for multiple artists in various studio sessions, when he finally put his band together, he did so with the intention of taking advantage of all the different genres that he had now mastered. Of course, it’s one thing knowing you want to make this kind of music and another thing actually executing it.

His introduction to the respective members of Led Zeppelin were all somewhat interconnected by chance. John Paul Jones was bored, sitting around the house, when he heard about the opportunity. Robert Plant was introduced to him by a friend, and Plant knew about John Bonham. It was a domino effect that led to the creation of one of the best rock bands of all time.

The genius of the band lay in their versatility – not just their knack for jumping between genres, but in their sheer musical brilliance and the way they arranged their tracks. Each member knew exactly when to give it their all and, crucially, when to hold back. John Bonham is one of the best examples of this. As a quintessential part of the band’s sound, he could easily dominate a track, yet he also knew when to strip things right back. Sometimes that meant playing sparse, minimalist percussion – and occasionally, not playing at all.

Throughout Led Zeppelin’s career, there were six songs that Bonham didn’t lend his drumming capabilities to. There were a few reasons why Bonham was excluded from a few songs, and they were always for the benefit of the track.

For instance, one song where he’s absent is the classic ‘The Battle Of Evermore’. This is arguably one of their most epic tracks, with a strong narrative attached and a drawn-out mandolin vs guitar battle. These were the two standout factors on the song, to the extent that having blaring drums over them would have detracted from the overall sound.

“On ‘The Battle of Evermore’, a mandolin was lying around. It wasn’t mine, it was Jonesey’s. I just picked it up, got the chords, and it sort of started happening,” said Page when discussing writing the track, “I did it more or less straight off. But, you see, that’s fingerpicking again, going back to the studio days and developing a certain amount of technique – at least enough to be adapted and used.”

John Bonham never let his pride get in the way of his music. If a song wasn’t right for his eccentric drumming style, he didn’t include it. His ability as both a percussionist and an arranger are what set him apart from anyone else in the industry. He was such an integral part to the band that once he passed away, it was inconceivable to the rest of Led Zeppelin to continue making music without him.

“When we lost John, we agreed unanimously that that was that,” reflected Plant. “I had to go and find out if I really want to do it. Did I want to do it, or did I just want to sit back there like a croupier at a gambling thing, and just kind of rake [the money] in. Or, did I want to actually continue this kind of gig of finding out where I’m going. I wanted to take all the trappings away, because I’d lost my best mate.”