How did drummer John Bonham of Led Zeppelin pass away?
In August 1979, Led Zeppelin released their eighth studio album, In Through the Out Door. It seemed unfair that the rock band that defined a generation would no longer be around in less than a year. John Bonham, the band’s unabashed weapon and the prototypical powerful drummer, was more vibrant than ever after beating a heroin addiction.
During that period, he was even more busy than normal because he was drumming on his friend Roy Wood’s Wizzard album On the Road Again. Furthermore, it should be noted that in late September 1980, Bonham and the other members of the Zeppelin band traveled to the quiet village of Bray in southeast England to practice for their upcoming tour of North America, which would be their first such trip in three years.
Though it’s scarcely a fair comparison, Led Zeppelin’s new music may have been providing diminishing returns when compared to their early ’70s prime. Even when coasting in second gear, they were still able to deliver more musically and rock harder than most of their peers. Fans from all around the world would always look forward to their live performances as the height of rock and roll and electric blues music.
That is, until the band returned to guitarist Jimmy Page’s neighboring mansion on the fateful night of September 25. Bonham dozed off in the wee hours and was led upstairs to a bedroom. He was never going to wake up.
So, what led to the demise?
In 1980, Bonham may have kicked his heroin problem, but he was still heavily dependent on booze. In fact, his addiction was getting worse. He was consuming screwdrivers for breakfast and had more than a litre of vodka on the day he passed away.
A post-mortem investigation conducted on Bonham’s body after his discovery on September 26th showed that his body had started to reject the alcohol he was drinking. While he was asleep, he had puked, breathed in his own vomit, and choked to death. Due to some vomit getting into his lungs and respiratory tract and stopping him from breathing, pulmonary aspiration was declared the official cause of death. The verdict was an accident.
The rest of Led Zeppelin’s members
Thus, just as their renowned drummer had, Led Zeppelin met their demise as they were discovering a fresh lease of life. He played the drums and drove a sports vehicle, and he lived his life that way. The last fast was completed at eleven. The tunes that wouldn’t be the same without him and the thousands of drummers he has influenced are what keep him alive.
