On September 25, 1980, John Bonham died in his sleep by choking on his own vomit following a day of heavy binge drinking.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is considered one of the greatest and most influential drummers in history.
When they burst onto the scene in 1968, Led Zeppelin established themselves as a force to be reckoned with by putting out iconic songs like “Whole Lotta Love,” “Immigrant Song,” and “Stairway To Heaven.” Today considered a staple of the rock genre, Led Zeppelin was composed of vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. But John Bonham’s death in 1980 at the age of just 32 brought the rock group to a screeching halt.
As is the case with many artists, fame only fueled the band’s personal problems. Drug use, drinking, and risky sex were rampant. Often, the most dangerous effects of this lifestyle only becomes apparent after it’s too late — and that was precisely the case with Bonham.
The drummer had been a heavy drinker throughout the band’s career — most of its members had — but it was clear that alcohol was a major problem for Bonham. The difference between sober Bonham and drunk Bonham was likened to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some attributed his drinking problems to boredom, noting that he preferred to stay home and had to be convinced to join the band in the first place.
But whatever excuses Bonham and others made for his drinking couldn’t justify his frequent drunken rages. Once he’d started drinking, he couldn’t stop. Eventually, this lifestyle led to John Bonham’s death.
After downing roughly 40 shots over the course of a day on September 24, 1980 — nearly 1.5 liters of 40 percent ABV vodka — Bonham passed out. He vomited that night while unconcious, too drunk to wake up or turn over, and choked to death. And in the wake of his passing, the other members opted not to replace the late drummer — meaning that John Bonham’s death also marked the death of Led Zeppelin.
How Young John Bonham Honed His Musical Talents
John Henry Bonham, known to his friends and fans as “Bonzo,” was born on May 31, 1948, in Redditch, Worcestershire, England — a birth that was, according to the official John Bonham website, a grueling 26-hour affair. A nurse who attended the birth said it was a “miracle” that he survived.
He grew up alongside two younger siblings, Michael and Debbie, in a small home on the outskirts of Redditch in Hunt End. At the age of five, it was already apparent that John — and Debbie, who later became a successful singer — was profoundly interested in music, as he would take anything he could find in the house and turn it into a percussion instrument. Rather than let him continue improvising with household objects, his parents instead bought him a snare drum when he was 10 years old.
His passion clearly stuck, even if his more academic studies didn’t. A year later Bonham’s parents received a report from his headteacher at school saying, “He will either end up a dustman or a millionaire.”
ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo Led Zeppelin at the Chateau Marmont in 1969: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham.
After leaving school in 1964, Bonham worked for his father’s construction company while he continued to pursue music, playing in several local bands including Terry Web and the Spiders, The Nicky James Movement, and The Senators, with whom he recorded the single “She’s a Mod” in 1964. His powerful playing style quickly earned him a reputation as one of the most formidable drummers in the West Midlands.
Around this time, Bonham met a talented singer named Robert Plant when he joined The Crawling King Snakes, where Plant sang lead vocals. The two would soon begin collaborating. Bonham also met his future wife Pat Phillips during this same period, when they were 16. Bonham and Phillips married a year later at age 17 after she became pregnant with their son, Jason.
But although John Bonham was now a young father working a day job and living in a small flat, his true passion — music — was still calling. When he decided to answer that call in 1968, he likely had little idea how much his life would change. Sadly, this change would also lead to John Bonham’s death.
Led Zeppelin’s Meteoric Rise To Fame
IanDagnall Computing/Alamy Stock Photo Led Zeppelin, promotional photo, 1971. From left to right: bassist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page, drummer John Bonham, and vocalist Robert Plant.
Following the breakup of his last band, the Yardbirds, a young guitarist by the name of Jimmy Page sought to form a new group. He knew the sort of sound he wanted so, having remembered hearing Plant sing a few times over the years, recruited him for the new band. Plant, in turn, suggested tapping John Bonham as the drummer.
Plant assumed Bonham would readily agree, but Bonham seemed initially hesitant. Bonham had started making good money drumming with the singer-songwriter. Tim Rose, and was reluctant to start something new.
“He wasn’t easily convinced,” Plant recalled in Led Zeppelin in Their Own Words. “He said, ‘Well I’m all right here, aren’t I?’ He’d never earned the sort of bread he was getting with Tim Rose. So I had to try and persuade him.”
Bonham had also received a few other offers to join musicians like Joe Cocker and Chris Farlowe, but he ultimately chose to go with Plant and Page. With the addition of bassist John Paul Jones, the band was complete — and it seemed immediately clear Bonham had made the right decision.
“It was an extraordinary connection, the synergy within the band,” Page reflected. “There was an area of ESP between Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and myself.”
By October 1968, they had a name — Led Zeppelin. The band’s 1969 debut album showcased their raw energy and musical versatility, and songs like “Good Times Bad Times” highlighted Bonham’s unique style of drumming. The band toured relentlessly, especially in the United States, which helped them build a massive following. Their subsequent albums only further showcased their talent and establish a legacy as rock legends.
Gijsbert Hanekroot/Alamy Stock Photo Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Bonham on stage at a concert in Germany, 1973.
Despite the band’s breakout success, though, John Bonham wasn’t always happy being part of the band. Part of the problem was having a wife and children back home; part of it was a nervousness that he could never quite overcome.
“I’ve got worse. I have terribly bad nerves all the time,” he once said. “…I just can’t stand sitting around, and I worry about playing badly — and if I do, then I’m really pissed off.”
And unfortunately, it seemed that regardless of how he played, drinking brought out that same rage.
John Bonham’s Struggle With Alcohol Abuse
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo Led Zeppelin in 1976. From left: John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Bonham.
John Bonham’s rage was no secret. According to a report from The Telegraph, music journalists interviewing Led Zeppelin were warned about Bonham ahead of time and given a list of rules to follow, including, “Do not make any sort of eye contact with John Bonham. This is for your own safety.”
By the mid-1970s, Led Zeppelin were internationally renowned, but their personal struggles had caught up with them. Page was deep in the throes of drug addiction, and Bonham was drunk and angry more often than not. On the group’s private jet, the Starship, he often complained about wanting to be back home. He even once flew into a rage and attacked a stewardess.
In a somber moment, Bonham once reflected, “Sometimes touring gets a bit wearing, but that’s only [because] I’m married with kids at home. I’ve never gotten pissed off with the actual touring. I enjoy playing — I could play every night. It’s just being away that gets you down sometimes.”
So, he continued on a path of self-destruction, drinking vodka straight from the bottle and taking pills or cocaine to keep himself awake. Even when the band took a break from touring in 1977, it was a rarity to see Bonham sober. And this hard drinking would lead to John Bonham’s death in 1980.
How Did John Bonham Die?
On Sept. 24, 1980, John Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin’s assistant Rex King for band rehearsals. The band had started touring for the first time since their American tour in 1977, and the pressure was seemingly getting to Bonham ahead of their return to the United States.
He and King stopped for breakfast, during which Bonham drank four quadruple-shot screwdrivers (vodka and orange juice) in the matter of a few minutes. Most people shouldn’t drink more than a single shot per hour, with water, let alone 16. But Bonham just kept drinking throughout rehearsals.
Bonham continued binge-drinking for about 12 hours straight, consuming roughly 40 shots of vodka. When the band finished rehearsals, Bonham passed out on a couch, after which an assistant led him to bed and laid him to rest on his side so that he could sleep off the alcohol.
But even though he was on his side, Bonham choked when he started vomiting later that night. Shortly after, the air to his lungs was cut off, and John Bonham died in the early morning hours of Sept. 25, 1980.
He was found the next morning by John Paul Jones and the band’s tour manager Benji LeFevre.
mauritius images GmbH/Alamy Stock PhotoLed Zeppelin playing the last show of their European tour in 1980, shortly before John Bonham’s death.
“Benje and I found him,” Jones recalled. “It was like, ‘Let’s go up and look at Bonzo, see how he is.’ We tried to wake him up… It was terrible. Then I had to tell the other two… I had to break the news to Jimmy and Robert. It made me feel very angry – at the waste of him… I can’t say he was in good shape, because he wasn’t. There were some good moments during the last rehearsals … but then he started on the vodka.”
According to Plant, he had spoken with Bonham just before practice, during which Bonham said he’d “had it with playing drums” and felt that everyone else played better than him. Bonham had also recently kicked a heroin habit and started taking medication to manage his depression and anxiety.
At just 32 years old, he was still very young; John Bonham’s death was the definition of a tragedy. He sadly joined the ranks of other rock stars gone too soon, like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Bon Scott, and Sid Vicious.
What’s more, it also put Led Zeppelin in the predicament of how to proceed without him as their dummer.
In the end, they decided that there simply wasn’t a way forward. On Dec. 4, 1980, two months after John Bonham’s death they put out a statement:
“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.”
After John Bonham’s death, Led Zeppelin broke up forever.
After reading about the death of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, learn all about the death of Queen singer Freddie Mercury. Or, read about what happened to Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles.
