Jason Bonham


Jason Bonham, son of the late John "Bonzo" Bonham, does not take lightly the responsibility of carrying on his father's legacy. Having made a head start at drumming while he was a child, Jason is now passing on the same lessons to a third generation of Bonham drummers.

John Bonham's death in 1980 left such an impact on the surviving members of Led Zeppelin that they knew immediately they could not continue as they were. Yet Jason Bonham's familiarity with the band made him a shoe-in to join his father's bandmates on the few occasions reunion concerts have taken place.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of Bonham's most successful album release to date, the Platinum-certified disc The Disregard of Timekeeping released by his band, Bonham. To mark the milestone, he recently toured with a new band and played under the banner of "An Evening with Jason Bonham."

In the past, Bonham has also toured and/or recorded with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Foreigner, UFO, Paul Rodgers, Joe Bonamassa, Virginia Wolf, Airrace, Healing Sixes and Motherland. He also acted in the movie Rock Star and appeared on the reality TV show "SuperGroup."

- What's the latest on Jason Bonham?

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Jimmy Page still undecided on new singer for group with John Paul Jones, Jason Bonham

No particular singer has yet been confirmed as teaming up with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham for an album and tour, Page's manager disclosed to BBC Radio's "6 Music."

In an interview, Peter Mensch of QPrime told Matt Everitt that all his client, Page, needs to complete his planned group with Jones and Bonham is a singer who would "fit their bill" for the musicians to "make a record and go on tour."

Once Mensch mentioned that he manages Page, Everitt asked about the possibility of collaboration among the pair of original Led Zeppelin members with Bonham and a new singer. (Everitt worded the question very laudably, without resorting to asking about a Led Zeppelin reunion, which was the reason interviewers last year failed to get any useful information about the project!)

To the question, Mensch replied:

"Listen. They did the show with Robert Plant. They had a really goodtime rehearsing -- the three of them, before Robert showed up -- and they decided if they could find a singer that they thought was, you know, fit their bill, they would make a record and go on tour.

"And I support that because -- why not? That's his job. It's like my job. I'm gonna manage acts until either every one of my acts tells me I'm too old to manage them or I die on a tour bus. This is what I do! You know.

"John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page enjoy playing with each other. You know, Jason Bonham's a really good drummer. So, we just have to find a singer."
Everitt asked if last year's rumor of Steven Tyler sitting in to rehearse was true, and Mensch answered:
"I can't comment on any rumors right now. And we're not soliciting people, so don't call me!"
A report by XFM summarizing Mensch's comments incorrectly calls him Led Zeppelin's manager. In truth, Mensch manages Page only, while Jones and Bonham retain their own individual managers.

When Page collaborated with Robert Plant in the 1990s, Page switched his management over to Trinifold, which Plant was using at the time and still does today.

Plant says he is not interested in reuniting Led Zeppelin at least for some time.

This interview provides the most current official insight on the possibility of a future collaboration among Led Zeppelin members since November, when Rolling Stone reported a quote from a QPrime representative who said of the forming lineup:
"Whatever this is, it is not Led Zeppelin. Not without the involvement of Robert Plant."

4 comments:

  1. This appears to have been contradicted by Mensch already, who is really speaking out of both sides of his mouth if this, newer report is accurate:

    "They tried out a few singers, but no one worked out," says Mensch. "That was it. The whole thing is completely over now. There are absolutely no plans for them to continue. Zero. Frankly, I wish everybody would stop talking about it."

    When asked what new projects Jimmy Page was going to be involved with in 2009, Mensch said, "F*** if I know. I'm waiting to hear."

    http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/led-zeppelin-are-over-says-jimmy-pages-manager-190946

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for your comment (and for the censorship). I just added a separate news article. Strange development indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Frustrating, huh? It's hard to understand why Jimmy doesn't seem to want to record or step on stage unless Plant is involved. I was really juiced to hear NEW material with John Paul Jones, who is the best musician in the world for jimmy to be working with.

    It's a shame...

    ReplyDelete

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John Paul Jones is now in one of the hottest and hardest rock bands, Them Crooked Vultures. The frontman, handling lead guitar and vocals, is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is on drums. As for Jones, he offers not only bass and keyboard but also mandolin, keytar, lap steel and whatever else is needed.

One album was released in November, and another is forthcoming. A tour of North America completed in November, and the band now heads to Europe in December and Australia in January.

- What's the latest on Them Crooked Vultures, the group featuring John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme?

- What else is John Paul Jones up to?