John Bonham Waited Until the Last Minute to Tell His Friends His Life-Changing News
John Bonham provided a powerful beat on several groundbreaking Led Zeppelin albums, which came years after he revolutionized drumming using only a bike chain. The call to join Zep was a momentous one that altered his life. Bonham waited until the last minute to tell his friends the news about another life-changing event.
John Bonham overcame his doubts and accepted a life-altering opportunity to join Led Zeppelin
Bonham was exposed to music at a young age and seemed destined to become a drummer. He banged on pots and pans before he ever had a drum set. He heard plenty of jazz records growing up, but Bonham was mesmerized by one rock song that influenced his drumming.
Bonham’s drum mentor never thought his pupil was very good; he would be proven wrong time and again. The drummer started playing regular gigs as a teenager and aspired to play music professionally. His Band of Joy bandmate Robert Plant recruited him for Led Zeppelin. It was the chance of a lifetime, but Bonham wasn’t sure about joining at first.
He overcame his doubts and accepted the life-altering offer to play in Led Zeppelin. Bonham had life-changing news years before that, but he waited until the last minute to tell his friends about it.
Bonham waited until the night before to tell his friends the news he was getting married
A teenage Bonham met his wife, Pat, during a night out in Birmingham, England. It was love at first sight. As C.M. Kushins writes in Beast, the young couple were virtually inseparable.
Pat revealed she was pregnant soon after Bonham turned 17, but the drummer wasn’t daunted. He knew he wanted to marry Pat and didn’t delay in making it happen. Bonham did delay telling his friends the news. He waited until the night before their small civil ceremony to tell his friends about it. And the man who became known for his mischievous side in Led Zeppelin revealed the life-changing news in style, according to friend and fellow drummer Mac Poole:
“Everyone else was dressed in tie-dyed T-shirts and jeans. ‘Why are you wearing a suit, John?’ ‘Oh, I’m practicing for tomorrow. I’m getting married.’ … He lined up all these drinks and got absolutely out of his brain. He jumped onto my kit and pepper-potted the drums. He absolutely whacked it, which I thought was quite funny, even though it was my kit.”
Mac Poole describes John Bonham revealing the news he was getting married
Bonham’s wedding happened on Feb. 19, 1966. Son Jason Bonham arrived less than five months later, on July 15, 1966. The drummer made the right call to get married, and he made the right decision to ignore his wife a few years later. Bonham’s wife told him to keep away from Plant, but their life would have been much different if he had turned down the singer’s Led Zeppelin recruitment call.
Led Zeppelin broke up rather than continue when Bonham died
Bonham’s list of standout performances on Led Zeppelin songs — “Good Times Bad Times,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Four Sticks,” “Achilles Last Stand,” etc. — almost overlaps with the band’s entire catalog.
Bonzo always felt the drummer could and should be front and center for a band. His powerful drumming with Led Zeppelin hammered that point home. So did his symbol on Led Zeppelin IV — three interlocking circles that might as well be drum heads.
He was so critical to the band that founding guitarist Jimmy Page said replacing Bonham was out of the question after his untimely death in September 1980. Led Zeppelin took a few months before deciding to disband. That was significantly more time than the few hours heads-up John Bonham gave his friends about the life-changing news about his marriage.
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