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I’m a John Bonham freak. Not in a creepy way but in the sense that I deeply admire the man who took a prolific act like Led Zeppelin and used it as a vessel to deliver some of the most influential grooves ever recorded.
Flipping through the latest edition of Modern Drummer, I was ecstatic to see their cover story featured none other than Jason “Son of Thunder” Bonham and his ascension to the Zeppelin throne for the O2 arena gig. They did a bang-up job (pardon the pun); the article left me completely fulfilled. I felt like I knew Jason on a whole new level, and by learning more about him, I gained deeper insight into his father.
Almost immediately after reading the article, I sat down, threw in my earbuds, and jumped back into the Zeppelin tracks I’d been working on. Anything John laid down amazes me—even the unintentional things. Case in point: I was jamming to the breakdown in “Whole Lotta Love” when I noticed something so quintessentially Bonham. He wasn’t just playing the rhythm of the hi-hats; he was using the sound of air rushing out between them as part of the groove. Sitting alongside Bonzo in spirit, I tried to emulate the timing of that one subtle action—bouncing my leg up and down on the pedal board just as I’d seen him do countless times before. Then it happened. That rare moment every musician experiences at some point when something that has long eluded you suddenly becomes ridiculously clear.
That night, I realized something profound: John Bonham was still very much a mortal man when he passed. Jason once said his father rarely practiced at home, and given that Buddy Rich was one of Bonzo’s idols, I don’t doubt it. In many ways, the man dubbed “The God of Thunder” had Led Zeppelin as his creative playground, a place to cultivate his ideas rather than spend time running rudiments and technical exercises. That’s not to say chops and practice isn’t important—far from it—but sometimes, what’s in your head can’t always be expressed through regimented routines.
A legend isn’t solely defined by skill but by the situation and expectations that shape them within a creative group. Everyone has the potential for moments of genius, and some surround themselves with other geniuses to increase their chances of virtuosity. That was John Bonham’s brilliance. Everything he put to tape came from the mind of a mortal man—one who was given the freedom to express himself beyond technique and drills.
That night, Bonzo stepped down from the pedestal where I had placed him. He sat beside me, and for a moment, he showed me what it was like to be John Henry Bonham.
Sean Mitchell is a drummer, artist, songwriter for Echo Drop and the creator of Drum Geek.
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