Good News: After 20 years of leaving Led Zeppelin Legendary Singer Returns in grand style and is set to…

When Led Zeppelin released their eighth studio album, In Through the Out Door, in August 1979, it seemed unconscionable that in just over a year, the era-defining rock band of the 1970s would be over. The band’s not-so-secret weapon, the original definition of a powerhouse drummer, John Bonham, was more alive than ever, having recently kicked a heroin addiction.

He was even busier than usual around that time, drumming on friend Roy Wood’s Wizzard album On the Road Again. And in late September 1980, Bonham and his Zeppelin bandmates headed to the sleepy village of Bray in southeast England to rehearse for their next venture, a tour of North America for the first time in three years, which makes what happened next all the more tragic.

Led Zeppelin’s new music might have been offering diminishing returns compared to their early ’70s prime, but that’s hardly a fair comparison. They could still rock harder and offer more musically than most of their contemporaries while coasting in second gear. Their live performances would always be a transcendent experience sought out by fans around the world as the pinnacle of both electric blues and rock and roll.

That is, until the fateful night of September 25th, when the band went back to guitarist Jimmy Page’s nearby mansion. In the early hours, Bonham fell asleep and was taken up to a bedroom. He would never wake up again.

So, what was the cause of death?

Bonham might have got rid of his heroin habit, but he was still very much addicted to alcohol in 1980. If anything, his addiction was only increasing. He was downing screwdrivers for breakfast, and on his final day alive, he drank over a litre of vodka.

After his body was discovered on September 26th, a post-mortem examination revealed that Bonham’s body had begun rejecting the alcohol he was consuming. He had thrown up while he was asleep, inhaled his own vomit and choked to death. The official cause of death was pulmonary aspiration because some vomit had entered his respiratory tract and lungs, preventing him from breathing. It was ruled an accident.

The remaining members of Led Zeppelin decided that they couldn’t go on without their driving force, and the band split up shortly afterwards. Singer Robert Plant cited losing his “best mate” as the reason for giving up, while Page said there was “no way” another drummer could learn to play their songs the way Bonham had.

And so, Led Zeppelin met their fate as they were finding a new lease of life, just as their legendary drummer had. A sports car fanatic, he lived his life the way he drove and played the drums. In the fast last, turned up to 11. He lives on the thousands of drummers he’s influenced and the songs that just wouldn’t be the same without him.