Tags
I was interested to read PhicklePhilly’s blog regarding Led Zeppelin. As a fan of heavy rock, as far as I’m concerned Led Zep were the best band ever. Drummer John Bonham died aged only 32 in 1980, and the surviving 3 band members decided to call it quits after that as they reckoned (rightly so) that they could never find another drummer to match John (although for a one-off concert in 2007 John’s son Jason took up the drumsticks when Led Zep played at the O2 Arena).
It wasn’t until 2011 that we had a chance to pay our respects at Bonham’s grave. On 22nd May 2011 we had been to see Rush perform at the LG Arena, Birmingham. On the following day before driving home we decided to visit Rushock, a village not too far away from the arena where Bonham had lived. I’d found out online that his ashes had been buried in St. Michael’s churchyard, Rushock on October 12th 1980, the day after Sam and I were married.
We drove up a very steep hill to the very pretty village of Rushock, and the church sat there right at the top of the hill. I’ve added some pictures below so that Led Zep fans can see the grave of one of the greatest drummers of all time (Neil Peart from Rush was another one, but that’s another story). It’s not an ostentatious grave, and apart from gifts left there by fans it’s not that distinguishable from all the rest.
St. Michael’s Church, Rushock.
Through the pretty lych gate…
To where John Bonham’s ashes lie near to the tree.
Stevie Turner 
Beautiful tribute Stevie. Two sad losses for sure. I’m not a big rock fan, but the classics I know because I grew up with 2 brothers -AC/DC freaks, lol. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did they ever sing “It’s a long way to the shop if you wanna sausage roll”?
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL, not that I recall, but then again, I usually closed the door and my ears LOL 🙂 x Must say though, was totally into Alice Cooper with them 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, Alice. Sam likes him. I prefer Led Zep, Deep Purple, Bad Co. and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m good with all the above 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 x
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was never a hard rock fan so I’m not familiar with personalities, but this was a very moving post thanks for sharing. Did the band quit forever?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the other members felt that they couldn’t play with any other drummer. However, Bonham’s son Jason did drum for them when they came together years later for a one-off gig at London’s O2 Arena. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page played a few gigs as ‘Page & Plant’, and I was lucky enough to see one of those.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a peaceful place to be buried. Such talent, gone too soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rush and LZ – the two best rock bands ever!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yep, definitely!
LikeLike
I still love Led Zep and play them a fair bit. I was going to mention the Kennedy Centre but Pete beat me to it. Jason was so emotional, you can see how much it meant to him and the band, especially as he’d told Robert Plant he couldn’t be there with them, in order to maintain the surprise.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It’s a shame they didn’t carry on with Jason, but I suppose he has his own band.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He played with them at the O2 reunion gig but I think it was more to do with Page and Plant not wanting to reform the band than Jason’s other commitments. Shame though, as you say.
LikeLiked by 3 people
We like some of the same bands. I’ve always been a fan of Zepplin and Rush. Neal Peart was the best drummer I’ve ever seen. He just passed in January of this year. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this video before, but Ann and Nancy Wilson, along with many others, paid tribute to Led Zepplin at the Kennedy Center. Jason is playing the drums, and it is an amazing performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLrzeWjKqV4
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, I’ve seen that video a few times; it’s an amazing version for sure. Such a shame that these great musicians I’ve grown up with are all now getting old and fading away.
LikeLiked by 2 people