John Bonham Quotes

• With Zeppelin, I tried to play something different every night in my solos. I’d play for 20 minutes but the longest ever was 30 minutes. It’s a long time, but whenI was playing it seemed to fly by.

  John Bonham

• We once did six tours of America in 15 months

  John Bonham

• We had offers to go everywhere and we could have done them. But what would have been the point? We were tired. We had worked hard and needed a break before we got stale. We spent six months at home and writing songs.

  John Bonham

• There were times when I blundered and got the dreaded look from the lads. But that was a good sign. It showed I’d attempted something I’d not tried before.

  John Bonham

• There was absolutely no intention of splitting up. We had so many great ideas to use on the new album. John Paul Jones was incredible, coming to the studio each day with new instruments to play.

  John Bonham

• Not everybody likes or understands a drum solo, so I like to bring in effects and sounds to keep their interest.

  John Bonham

• My nerves before a gig got worse; I had terrible bad nerves all the time. Once we started… I was fine.

  John Bonham

• If we’d have said we were not upset, they would have thought we were so rich it meant nothing to us, and if we say we’re upset about it, they’ll say money is all we care about.

  John Bonham

• I remember in the early days when we played six nights a week for a month and I was doing my long drum solo every night. My hands were covered in blisters.

  John Bonham

• I hate it when people slag us off. We had done three tours during 1970 and we finished off feeling we had just about had enough. We had done so much in that short space of time, we were drained.

  John Bonham

• I dare not drink before a gig because I’ll get tired and blow it. So I have to sit drinking tea in a caravan.

  John Bonham

• Drumming was the only thing I was ever good at.

  John Bonham

John Bonham (12)

Birth:	31st May, 1948
Death:	25th September, 1980
Nationality:	British
Profession:	Drummer, Lyricist

About

John Henry Bonham was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. He was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer for the British rock band Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 1 in their list of the "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time." His mother gave him a snare drum when he was 10. He received his first drum kit from his father at age 15, a Premier Percussion set. He has written several songs include: "Kashmir" (with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant), "The Ocean" (with John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant), "Communication Breakdown" (with John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant), and "Royal Orleans" (with John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant).

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Today's Anniversary - 17th November

Births

• 1951 - Stephen Root
• 1944 - Tom Seaver
• 1944 - Lorne Michaels
• 1916 - Shelby Foote
• 1966 - Sophie Marceau

Deaths

• 1995 - Marguerite Young
• 1988 - Sheilah Graham
• 1990 - Robert Hofstadter
• 2002 - Abba Eban
• 1968 - Mervyn Peake