Led Zeppelin Singer Robert Plant Missed 1 Aspect of His Relationship With John Bonham That Had Nothing to Do With Music
Led Zeppelin remains a classic rock Mount Rushmore candidate more than 40 years after they broke up. That’s what happens when you write songs so recognizable that you earn a $2 million paycheck nearly 50 years later. The band’s rise came quickly, but so did their demise. Led Zeppelin broke up when John Bonham died, and Robert Plant found he missed one aspect of his relationship with his bandmate that had nothing to do with music.
Robert Plant recruited John Bonham into Led Zeppelin
When guitarist Jimmy Page put Led Zeppelin together, his first move was to add a singer. Plant blew away Page while performing at a strange venue, and the guitarist added him to the mix days later.
Bonham entered the fold on Plant’s recommendation. The two English Midlands natives from the Birmingham area had played together in the little-known Band of Joy. Bonham’s thunderous playing seemed tailor-made for Led Zeppelin’s brand of heavy, blues-based rock. Plant was a fan as much as a colleague. He said Bonham’s drumming didn’t sound human on “Achilles Last Stand,” and the singer made a fair point.
When the drummer died, Led Zeppelin was almost forced to break up. Page said there was no way to replace Bonham’s chemistry with the other three players. Trying would have been pointless, so the band called it a day.
Plant later revealed he missed one aspect of his relationship with Bonham that had nothing to do with music.
Plant said he missed his ‘antagonistic relationship’ with Bonham when the drummer died
As we mentioned, Led Zeppelin shot to fame almost as soon as their first record hit the shelves. Far from an actual zeppelin’s slow rise, the band launched like a rocket. The band members were internationally famous by their early 20s. It was rarefied air for Plant and Bonham, two relative nobodies who hailed far from England’s cosmopolitan capital city of London.
“It was a bit like being on a space shuttle, in a way,” Plant once said, according to Led Zeppelin FAQ author George Case. “So we did grow together, although we were never really particularly similar. But we had common ground, which we began to share, and we realized as time went on that we had to make this thing work.”
Plant and Page formed a close musical relationship, but the guitarist didn’t attend Plant’s son’s funeral. The drummer did, which was a sign of his and Plant’s close relationship. Bonham tragically died in September 1980. Years later, Plant revealed he missed one aspect of his relationship with Bonham, and it had nothing to do with music (per Case):
“It was an honest relationship, where he would say, ‘Look, you can’t sing, but just go out and look good, and I’ll look after everything else behind you.’ We always had this antagonistic relationship, and I miss that … Every time I got a bit like, ‘Hey, I’m the star,’ he’d be back there in the middle of a concert growling, ‘You’re f—— hopeless! But don’t forget, I’m here.'”
Robert Plant reveals what his missed about his relationship with John Bonham
Plant and Bonham’s shared background — former bandmates from the Midlands — meant that the drummer might have been the only person who could put the singer in his place. Plant realized it was one of the things he missed most about his relationship with Bonham.
The drummer forged a close relationship with Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones accurately sized up Bonham at the band’s first rehearsal. He knew what the rest of the world would soon discover — Bonham was one of the most powerful drummers on the planet. Bonzo also had a powerful personality that rose to the surface when it came to his music.
Plant’s relationship with Bonham included scathingly antagonistic comments, and he came to miss them. The singer wasn’t the drummer’s only target.
Bonham called out Page while recording the Led Zeppelin classic “Stairway to Heaven.” Page kept pressing the drummer to re-record his drum part underneath the guitarist’s solo. The drummer got so fed up that he called Page a bastard before nailing his part. Years later, Bonham and Page started brainstorming ideas for a heavy album to follow In Through the Out Door before the drummer died.
Robert Plant and John Bonham shared a close relationship because of their shared background, but the thing Plant missed most about their friendship was how Bonzo never hesitated to call him out.
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