The one Led Zeppelin song that reminds Robert Plant of John Bonham

In the case of many rock bands, the drummer is deemed replaceable, but with Led Zeppelin, John Bonham was the lynchpin, and nobody else on the planet could do his job. While Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones contributed immensely to their success, Bonham’s ferocious drumming elevated each song to new heights.

With Led Zeppelin, there were no passengers. If one of the four members was taken out of the mix, then the whole operation would have fallen down like Jenga. The band were acutely aware of this, too. Hence, when Bonham tragically passed away in 1980, Led Zepellin knew they would have been doing their legacy a disservice if they carried on without him. Although it would have been highly lucrative, it’s just not Led Zeppelin without Bonham’s presence.

Admittedly, they have united on a handful of one-off occasions since his passing, but it’s never been for financial gain. Instead, it has always been for a wider cause, whether this be for charity at Live Aid or celebrating the man who believed in them at the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert in 2007 at London’s O2 Arena. Following the latter, they were offered hundreds of millions to play in stadiums across the globe, but Plant had no intention of accepting the lucrative deal. In his mind, Led Zeppelin died in 1980 when Bonham passed.

Bonham was more than a bandmate to Plant; he was a close friend he had known since they were teenagers playing in bands in pubs across the Midlands. They had been on an incredible journey that surpassed anything in their wildest dreams when they first played together in Crawling King Snakes and fostered wildly ambitious hopes to get to the top.

While their paths briefly diverged, Plant recommended his old friend to Page for Led Zeppelin, which was a musical marriage for the ages. There are plentiful examples of Bonham’s excellence, but for Plant, his best moment came on ‘Achilles Last Stand’. In the studio, the band gave the drummer free rein to do whatever he wanted, and the result didn’t disappoint.

However, despite the magnificent nature of ‘Achilles Last Stand’, the track is now tinged with sadness for Plant, who can’t listen to the recording without thinking of his late bandmate. Speaking to Vulture, the singer named it as the one song that always reminds him of Bonham. Plant revealed: “Ironically, we go back to ‘Achilles Last Stand,’ which is probably what I’d first say. I could say ‘When the Levee Breaks.’ It was an absolutely stunning recording. John is playing such a sexy, ridiculously laid-back and held-back groove — he bought us a lot of credits when sometimes we were the guys at the front of the band and behaving a little coquettish. But I keep thinking of him playing on ‘Achilles Last Stand.’”

Plant believes that the rest of the band also brought the A-game to the song, adding with awe, “You just needed to listen to what those three guys were doing in the studio. Listen to Jonesy with the eight-string Alembic bass. And Jimmy’s solo? It’s just really, really something.” Self-deprecatingly, Plant conceded that he was the weakest part of the track but also felt he could have done nothing more, continuing, “There was almost no way in to write something and make it a vocal performance along with the incredible instrumentation. There was not really a great deal for me to do, except what I ended up doing.”

Page feels similar fondness towards the track. During a conversation with Guitar Player in 1977, Page spoke about his contribution to ‘Achilles Last Stand’ and claimed it was “in the same tradition as the solo from ‘Stairway to Heaven’ on the fourth LP,” he said. “It is on that level to me”.

Every member of Led Zeppelin contributed to making ‘Achilles Last Stand’ a triumph, but Bonham’s importance can’t be played down. He brought out the best in his bandmates, and without him behind them, they would never have become the rock behemoth that changed the world.