Many experts, meanwhile, believe that the drummer's devastating death, during rehearsals for an upcoming North American tour, led to the end of the band.
- September 7, 2021
AceShowbiz - Led Zeppelin were close to calling it a day before drummer John Bonham's death in 1980, according to biographer C.M. Kushins.
The writer's extensive research has led him to believe Bonham was done with the band's extensive tours and wanted to spend more time with his family on his Redditch, England farm, overseeing his father's construction business.
Many experts insist Bonham's death, during rehearsals for an upcoming North American tour, led to the end of the band, but Kushins - the author of new biography "Beast" - insists the group was very close to announcing a hiatus.
"I don't think that Zeppelin would have continued," the author tells WENN. "I think they would have gone on a very extended hiatus or they would have disbanded. There would have been a reunion of some kind eventually."
"I don't think John would have been in any other band. He would have been in semi-retirement on the farm. I don't think he would have toured the world again. I think he had had enough of the travelling."
"The thing that surprised me and made me incredibly happy about Bonham is I think he loved rock 'n' roll but his greatest passion was to be at home with his family and to have that simple lifestyle, and be around his pub and to have his bulls that he raised."
"The last few years of his life, he had restarted his father's construction business. When they didn't know what was gonna happen with Zeppelin, John and his brother re-registered their father's construction business and started building houses again."
"I think he would have made cameo guest appearances on albums by other artists. He would have made appearances on Robert Plant's stuff, because they were so close. I think he would have collaborated with Paul McCartney a few more times... He was part of McCartney's Rockestra in 1979. He passed away in 1980 and didn't get to see that he was the first member of Zeppelin to win a Grammy Award for his part in Rockestra."
Kushins' book "Beast", which features a foreword written by Dave Grohl, will be released later this month.
