Jimmy Page on Playing With XYZ After John Bonham’s Death

Guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham formed Led Zeppelin in 1968. After Bonham’s death in 1980, the band disbanded. Following Led Zeppelin’s disbandment, Page temporarily played guitar in a group called XYZ.

Forming XYZ was ‘the first thing’ Jimmy Page did after John Bonham died

When Bonham died in 1980, Page, Plant, and Jones opted not to replace him and instead decided to officially disband Led Zeppelin.

In 1981, Page, Chris Squire, and Alan White temporarily formed a group called XYZ. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2020, Page discussed how XYZ came to be.

“If you know the precision of Yes, you know how technically brilliant they were. And so I was in there with Chris Squire, the extraordinary bass player, and Alan White, the drummer, and they had suggested that we go it together. Why not do that? It was the first thing that I did after we’d lost John Bonham, and I thought, ‘Well, if there’s ever anything like trying to jump in the deep end, this is it,'” Page said.

He continued, “Because these guys are so good. And I mean, I’d heard the guitar playing Steve Howe would do and I thought, ‘Well, let’s see how it works.'”

Jimmy Page worked on music with Chris Squire and Alan White

Both Squire and White were known for their work in a band called Yes. While Page, Squire, and White rehearsed and recorded music together, they never officially released music as XYZ.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Page explained what it was like to briefly make music with Squire and White.

“So I went in there, and we did some of the songs that they’d already worked on, and then I came up with my guitar parts for these things, and that was really interesting. And Chris was singing on them. I thought, ‘I’ve really had to concentrate,’ because it’s things in different time signatures. I mean it was a serious workout. But it was great. It was brilliant,” said Page.

He added, “And then I said, ‘I’ve got one,’ and I played them what actually becomes ‘Fortune Hunter’ with the Firm.”

XYZ did not officially release music together

While some songs were made from Page’s work with Squire and White, the band XYZ did not officially release a musical project together.

When asked by Rolling Stone if old recordings of XYZ would ever be released, Page did not seem to think so.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost Chris now. It was something that I always hoped to do, as some sort of project, to get hold of him and Alan. It’s not even worth talking about, because it’s all speculation,” Page answered.