News »
Gigwise RSS Feeds Bookmark and Share

Led Zeppelin's John Bonham Was An 'Angry, Mean Drunk'

A new book recalls...

Music Mogul Danny Goldberg has described the late John Bonham, Led Zeppelin's original drummer, as a “an angry and mean drunk”.

Goldberg, who worked as a publicist for the band, makes the comment in a new book, Bumping Into Geniuses, which details his life inside the music industry.

He also recalls an interview where Bonham, who he regards asthe  “greatest drummer in rock”, responded angrily to a critic who questioned his lengthy drum solos.

“Bonham grabbed the reviewer's lapels and yelled, 'Look, I've had about enough of you people!'” he writes.

The exerts, which appeared in the New York Daily News, also highlight how the atmosphere around the band in 1973 "was one of tension, exacerbated by huge quantities of cocaine. Violence was one bad mood away."

Bonham's son, Jason, took over his drum seat when the band reformed at the O2 Arena in London last December.

Goldberg's book is released next month.

Led Zeppelin - Through The Years
Previous Next
(4)
  • And this guy is an ass for slaggin a dead man!

    ~ by Bonham Rules 8/22/2008

    Reply to this comment View 1 Reply

  • ...it’s people like Danny Goldberg that drove Bonzo to drink in the first place...who the hell would want to buy this book?

    ~ by Nigel Thomas 8/22/2008

    Reply to this comment

  • I think at the time also, the media was always giving Led Zeppelin a hard time, including Rolling Stone, Jimmy Page was receiving death threats from every where and had glanduar fever problems, and yes, drugs entered the circle, started to split the band apart...it’s not an excuse, but when something like Led Zeppelin was as big as they were and getting bigger, they were taking as many lumps for who they were as stars as they were for just being targets of everyone tryin to figure them

    ~ by craymorr 8/23/2008

    Reply to this comment


     characters left [+]  


    Register now and have your comments approved automatically!

    • RT @Gigwise: Lethal drug found at Michael Jackson's house: http://bit.ly/2mMQk
      minimaland on Fri Jul 03 20:57:13 via TweetDeck
    • @Gigwise It's because the only way they could get Dave Rowntree to play the drums was to hypnotise him. Too strenuous otherwise, poor chap.
      benyacobi on Fri Jul 03 19:36:07 via TweetDeck
    • @TheGrottoTweets @isyng4u @Gigwise @platinumcash @MrTimm @Beeyezzy @Sweetprangel @odloak Michael Jackson Had A Lover! http://bit.ly/hluqG
      HitDanBack on Fri Jul 03 15:13:46 via web
    • @Gigwise Yep, looking better already.
      davidhaskoll on Fri Jul 03 14:19:42 via web
    • RT @Gigwise Barack Obama: 'I Still Have Michael Jackson On My iPod': He speaks about the King of Pop... http://tiny... http://bit.ly/fo0iH
      yaxon on Fri Jul 03 13:47:33 via Tweetbots
    Artist A-Z   # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z