John Bonham

He died at the age of 32 in Clewer, England, UK; it is believed that he died due to excessive alcohol consumption and choking on vomit in his sleep.

In 2005, Classic Rock magazine ranked him at the No.1 position on their list of ‘50 Greatest Drummers in Rock’.

John Henry Bonham was born to the English couple Joan and Jack Bonham in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. By the time he turned five, he started playing drums.

He went to the Lodge Farm Secondary Modern School and from 1962 to 1963 he played for the Blue Star Trio and Gerry Levene & the Avengers. He later started playing for his first semi-professional band, Terry Webb and the Spiders.

In 1968, he became part of the English rock band, ‘Led Zeppelin’, as the drummer. The band was initially called the New Yardbirds and it changed its name later to, ‘Led Zeppelin’.

In 1969, the band ‘Led Zeppelin’ came out with their self-titled debut album, ‘Led Zeppelin’, which was released under the Atlantic Records label. The album initially received negative reviews, but was commercially successful.

On October 22, 1969, he played the drums for the Grammy Award nominated second ‘Led Zeppelin’ album, titled ‘Led Zeppelin II’. The album was successful and became one of the band’s bestselling albums.

On October 5, 1970, ‘Led Zeppelin’, released their third studio album, ‘Led Zeppelin III’, which was one of their highest selling albums. The album received good reviews from music critics.

In 1971, he was the drummer for the song, ‘Everybody Clap’, which was a song by Scottish singer, Lulu Kennedy-Cairns. The song was written by Maurice Gibb and Billy Lawrie.

The album ‘Led Zeppelin’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2012 Rolling Stone magazine listed it on their list of ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’.

‘Led Zeppelin II’ was a bestselling album that sold over 12 million copies and it reached the No.1 position on U.S, U.K and the Canadian music charts.