John Bonham

John Bonham (born May 31, 1948, Redditch, Worcestershire, England—died September 25, 1980, Windsor) was a British rock musician and the famed heavy-handed drummer of the rock band Led Zeppelin. He influenced many other drummers and musicians and was named the greatest drummer of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2016.

Bonham grew up mainly in Birmingham, England, and left school when he was a teenager. In 1966 he married Pat Phillips, and the couple had two children, Jason and Zoe Bonham.

Bonham played in several bands, including Crawling King Snakes and, later, Band of Joy, both of which included singer Robert Plant. In 1968 Plant and Bonham joined Led Zeppelin, a newly formed band whose other members were bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones and guitarist Jimmy Page. Bonham’s aggressive drumming provided the rhythmical base for the group’s music and contributed largely to the success of the band, which gained an international reputation as pioneers of “acid rock.” During the late 1960s and early ’70s the group made many successful tours in Europe and the United States. Led Zeppelin made few public appearances after 1977, but the band toured Europe shortly before Bonham’s accidental death, brought on by excessive drinking.

Led Zeppelin disbanded after Bonham’s death, although the group occasionally played one-off shows such as the Live Aid benefit concert in 1985. Bonham was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when Led Zeppelin received that honor in 1995. His son, Jason, also became a drummer and has performed with the band’s surviving members.