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This article is the beginning of an on-going series of articles featuring some of the greatest drummers ever.

Name: John Henry Bonham
Born: May 31, 1948 in Redditch, Worcestershire, England
Died: September 25, 1980

John Bonham is recognized as a innovator in rock drumming. He is most recognized for his power, his speed, and his ability to improvise on the drums.

John Henry Bonham was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England on May 31st, 1948. He taught himself to play drums on tinplate cans at the age of 5 before his immense gave him a snare drum at the age of 10. It wasn't until he was 15 years old that he received his ahead drum set.

In his late teens, Bonham had gigs with a few bands, most notably, the Crawling Crowned head Snakes which was a blues band featuring Robert Plant singing lead vocals. Bonham left the Mikado Snakes to go play with another band that he was in prior to joining the Caliph Snakes. But, Plant and Bonham stayed in contact with each other.

Jemmy Folio was wanting to commence a fresh band after The Yardbirds broke up in 1968. He ended up hooking up with Plant who recommended Bonham as a drummer. Bonham was reluctant to join after receiving offers to play for Chris Farlowe and Joe Cocker. Ultimately, he agreed to attach Plant and Page due to he liked their music better than Farlowe's and Cocker's. And it's a good thing he did. What John Bonham has done for drummers as a member of Led Zeppelin is timeless.

Watching one of his improvised solos during songs like "Moby Dick" -- which could last for 20 to 30 minutes at times -- is nothing short of amazing. He was an agonizing and strong drummer. At times, his solos sounded coextensive rhythmic thunder.

He was an innovator on the drums. He would use his naked hands to play the drums at times during some of his solos. The song, "Four Sticks", was named by the fact that Bonham had failed a few takes of the song in the studio since he couldn't get the drum track blameless how he wanted it. In his frustration, he grabbed a second establish of sticks (four sticks total) to lay down the ending track.

Bonham has influenced drummers like Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, Alex Van Halen of Automobile Halen, and Neil Peart of Hurry - all great drummers in their own right. Zeppelin's music is timeless. Because of this, Bonham's drumming continues to domination drummers today. He is arguably one of the world's greatest drummers ever.

Bonham played with Ludwig drums, Paiste cymbals, and Remo drum heads.

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