The only member of the band to join him was Bonham the other members chose to stay Stateside to pick up the pieces of the cancelled tour. Devastated, Plant cancelled all remaining shows and flew immediately back to England.
In 1977 while Zeppelin was on tour in America, Plant received news that his five-year-old son Karac had suddenly been stricken with a viral illness and, within a day, died. For Bonham, that lifetime would only last another 12 years – leaving Plant to carry the tragically severed bond forward in the decades ensuing. But in the immediate moment Plant and Bonham were mere teenagers in a strange world, clinging to one another for dear life and in the process forming a bond that lasted a lifetime. Of course, this tour broke them in America and sowed the seeds for worldwide success in the coming years. They not only shared a room together, they would refuse to turn out the light and go to sleep until they were both tucked safely up in bed.”
Mick Wall, in his 2008 Led Zeppelin biography When Giants Walked the Earth, describes this early bond between lead singer and drummer: “Plant and Bonham huddled together in those first days like two shipwrecked survivors clinging to the same driftwood. Both barely 20, recently married, and severely homesick, they were inseparable during this tour. Page saw Bonham perform in London and was very interested in getting him in Zeppelin, which at this point had the working name, “The New Yardbirds.” Bonham had a steady gig and was reticent to join, but Plant convinced him it was the right move.īack in the same band again, they found themselves in America several months later replacing the Jeff Beck Group on a tour opening for Vanilla Fudge. After playing together for a while, they eventually went their separate ways before teaming up again with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones in late summer 1968. Of course, Bonham soon ended up in the band. Bonham approached him one night in a Birmingham club and said that he thought Plant was good but that the other players in the band were shit. Plant was singing with a group called the Crawling King Snakes.
Born within three months of one another, in towns 30 miles apart, Bonham and Plant first met in 1964 when they were both 16 years old. Among the members of Led Zeppelin, it was Plant and Bonham who shared the closest personal connection. A deep, lingering pain results from the reality that you will no longer create music together. One cannot fully comprehend what it’s like to lose a longtime musical companion unless you’ve experienced it first-hand. So having Jason participate in the climactic number of the evening was an apt choice for the Wilson sisters to make. His resemblance to his dad is eerie: beard, bulky frame, pork pie hat, explosive playing style, etc. But when the members have played, their choice of drummer has primarily been Jason. Despite collaborations among the members and a few performances throughout the decades, Led Zeppelin has not toured or recorded any new material. Upon his death, it was decided among the remaining members that Led Zeppelin would not continue on as an entity without him. Hailed by many as the greatest rock drummer of all time, Bonham died in 1980 at 32 years of age from asphyxiation as a result of excessive alcohol intake. Joining Ann and Nancy Wilson for the Kennedy Centre performance on drums was Jason Bonham, the son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. But why exactly did Plant shed a tear? Is it so cut and dry that it was simply the intensity and emotion of Heart’s delivery, or was there something more at play in Plant’s reaction? The Youtube video featuring this performance (and accompanying emotional display) has been viewed over 5 million times, and the Wilson sisters have since been showered with praise and accolades about how their version was so good that it made Robert Plant cry. About halfway through the song, tears start welling up in Plant’s eyes and eventually overflow as the choir kicks in and the song crescendos. In the footage of the performance, a camera periodically shows the facial expressions of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones as they watch it all unfold. Along with a massive ensemble that featured a choir and orchestra, the sisters delivered an authentic, moving rendition of “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin’s signature song. Among the musicians chosen to pay tribute to Led Zeppelin’s enduring musical catalogue were Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart. On December 2, 2012, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin were among the artists celebrated at the 35th annual Kennedy Centre Honors in Washington, D.C.
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