A brass Chinese gong once owned and used by Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is set to fetch up to £76,000 at an auction in America.
The gong, which is 29.5 inches wide and features two painted Chinese characters - has been put up for sale by Redditch-born Bonham’s younger sister Deborah and his mother Joan - and appropriately it will be auctioned at Bonhams in Los Angeles on June 14.
‘‘Bonzo’’ Bonham used gongs for dramatic effect by having them set alight in Led Zeppelin performances.
Led Zep guitarist John Paul Jones confirmed: “He did that more or less every night. His roadie Mick Hinton had to set it alight. I think he used lighter fuel and it was quite dangerous. John got the gong idea from Carmine Appice when we supported Vanilla Fudge in the early days.”
Bonham was aged just thirty two when he died on September 25,1980. An inquest heard that in the 24 hours before he died of a pulmonary oedema, he had had drunk forty measures of vodka. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. He was cremated and his ashes were interred at Rushock parish church, Worcestershire. Next Sunday would have been his 61st birthday.
Educated at Lodge Farm secondary modern school, Redditch, his headmaster famously remarked that Bonham would “either end up a dustman or a millionaire.”
In 1964, he joined his first semi professional band, Terry Webb and The Spiders,and met his future wife, Pat Phillips, at a dance in Kidderminster. He also played in other Birmingham bands, including The Nicky James Movement and The Senators.
Bonham needed some persuading to join the newly-formed Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant had to send eight telegrams to Bonham’s favourite pub, the Three Men In A Boat, at Walsall, while the band’s manager, Peter Grant, reputedly followed this with a further 40 telegrams to the pub.
The drummer was famed for his hard-hitting style - he used the largest drum stick on the market - and was famed for his drum solo Moby Dick which could last for half an hour.
Bonham’s son, Jason Bonham, 42, is also a drummer and played with Led Zeppelin in their reunion show in December 2007. Bonham’s daughter, Zoe, 33, is a singer-songwriter.
