{"id":167220,"date":"2025-09-29T03:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T03:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/167220\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T03:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T03:00:13","slug":"the-led-zeppelin-song-that-cured-john-bonhams-stage-fright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/167220\/","title":{"rendered":"The Led Zeppelin song that cured John Bonham’s stage fright"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

Sun 28 September 2025 16:40, UK <\/p>\n

Led Zeppelin<\/a> 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\u2019t all that different from you and I.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While, admittedly, you weren\u2019t 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\u2019t grown in a lab, either. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> asking when he\u2019d be home for his tea, which isn\u2019t 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For instance, Led Zeppelin were one of the very first bands to establish themselves as an \u2018arena\u2019 band, playing those landmark five nights at Earls Court<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got worse. I have terribly bad nerves all the time,\u201d 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 \u2013 or even if you\u2019re ever seen a video of them performing \u2013 it\u2019s difficult to truly believe Bonham\u2019s claims of nerves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>John Bonham wails on the drums. (Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

As he explained, \u201cOnce we start into \u2018Rock And Roll\u2019 I\u2019m fine. I just can\u2019t stand sitting around, and I worry about playing badly \u2013 and if I do then I\u2019m really pissed off.\u201d 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. <\/p>\n

Who knows? Without the comforting drumbeat of \u2018Rock And Roll\u2019, perhaps Led Zeppelin would never have fostered their reputation among the greatest live bands of all time. After all, Bonzo\u2019s playing formed an irreplaceable core aspect of their appeal as performers; the backbone of the band\u2019s hard rock revolution. <\/p>\n

Reportedly, though, the rest of the group weren\u2019t free from the shackles of stage fright, either. \u201cIf 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,\u201d the drummer explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worse at festivals. You might have to sit around for a whole day and you daren\u2019t drink because you\u2019ll get tired and blow the gig,\u201d Bonham continued. \u201cSo you sit drinking tea in a caravan with everybody saying, \u2018Far out, man.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n

The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter<\/p>\n

All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy) Sun 28 September 2025 16:40, UK Led Zeppelin might as well have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,25705,10866,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-167220","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-john-bonham","10":"tag-led-zeppelin","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}