(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sun 28 September 2025 16:40, UK
Led Zeppelin might as well have been on a different plane of existence back in the 1970s. With their seemingly endless repertoire of earth-shattering hard rock riffs and constant tailwind of wild antics, it is difficult to envision those rock and roll valkyries as ordinary people. Behind all of it, though, Zeppelin weren’t all that different from you and I.
While, admittedly, you weren’t likely to find Robert Plant doing his weekly shop or counting out pennies at a petrol station back in the 1970s heyday of the band, the musicians weren’t grown in a lab, either.
Even Jimmy Page, the untouchable mastermind of the entire operation, lived a relatively normal life in Hounslow for the majority of his early years; his mum used to ring up Immediate Records asking when he’d be home for his tea, which isn’t the most rock and roll thing imaginable. No, Led Zeppelin were, at their core, ordinary blokes and were subject to the same anxieties and self-doubt as the rest of us.
For instance, Led Zeppelin were one of the very first bands to establish themselves as an ‘arena’ band, playing those landmark five nights at Earls Court back in 1975. For a band that started out playing in small rooms to sporadic crowds of confused hippies and students, performing in front of a collective 100,000 people was bound to be a daunting task, and drummer John Bonham was particularly affected by those pre-match nerves.
“I’ve got worse. I have terribly bad nerves all the time,” the drummer once shared. However, if you were one of the lucky people who got to witness Led Zeppelin live and in the flesh during their heyday – or even if you’re ever seen a video of them performing – it’s difficult to truly believe Bonham’s claims of nerves.
John Bonham wails on the drums. (Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Not only was Bonham one of the most captivating, spectacular drummers to ever grace the rock and roll airwaves, but Led Zeppelin were always famed for their unparalleled ability as a live band. For Bonham, though, the space of time immediately before stepping out on stage tended to dictate the quality of his performance.
As he explained, “Once we start into ‘Rock And Roll’ I’m fine. I just can’t stand sitting around, and I worry about playing badly – and if I do then I’m really pissed off.” That 1972 single quickly became a kind of theme tune for Led Zeppelin, as one of their most iconic and instantly recognisable anthems. More importantly, though, its apparent ability to cure Bonham of every ounce of stage fright was unparalleled.
Who knows? Without the comforting drumbeat of ‘Rock And Roll’, perhaps Led Zeppelin would never have fostered their reputation among the greatest live bands of all time. After all, Bonzo’s playing formed an irreplaceable core aspect of their appeal as performers; the backbone of the band’s hard rock revolution.
Reportedly, though, the rest of the group weren’t free from the shackles of stage fright, either. “If I play well, I feel fine. Everybody in the band is the same, and each has some little thing they do before we go on, like pacing about or lighting a cigarette,” the drummer explained.
“It’s worse at festivals. You might have to sit around for a whole day and you daren’t drink because you’ll get tired and blow the gig,” Bonham continued. “So you sit drinking tea in a caravan with everybody saying, ‘Far out, man.’”
Drinking tea in a caravan is hardly the life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll that Led Zeppelin were so often famed for, but their rather endearing pre-gig rituals, particularly their dedication not to drink before a show, is testament to the respect the band had for their audience and for the art of live performance.
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