Robert Plant Says He Had To Steal Gas To Get To Early Led Zeppelin Shows

Robert Plant says that meeting bandmate John Bonham led to an encounter with the law. When Bonham started playing with the band, Plant didn’t have enough money for gas to pick him up for the gigs, so he ended up stealing the gas and got caught by the police.

Plant said that after Bonham died, there really wasn’t any thought of Led Zeppelin continuing.

He said, “As a four-piece band, what are you going to do? I don’t know how any band – any group of people – could continue without 25 percent of the driving wheel.”

He also noted that Bonham could cause problems if he got bored onstage and would sometimes just start playing a waltz for a minute and then just laugh.

Plant recalled a time in New York that Bonham just got up and walked through his drum kit. And said “That’s it – I don’t wanna do that!” The band quickly switched to another song while someone lured him back onto the riser.

John Bonham died in 1980 following a drinking binge. He was 32.

SIDE NOTES

• A coroner found that he had taken 40 shots of vodka in 12 hours.
• His death was ruled as an accident and it was determined he had choked on his own vomit.