Drummers who could have replaced Bonham in Zeppelin

Sticks Of Fury

Senior Member
Hello.
I hope I don't get flamed for writing this. There are a few drummers in my opinion who could have replaced John Bonham in Led Zeppelin, after Bonham died. I know everyone on here is going to disagree with me, but my research shows that these guys would have fit in nicely.

Carmine Appice
Cozy Powell
Aynsley Dunbar
Ian Paice
Clive Bunker
Corky Laing (possibly)
Anton Fig
Dave Mattacks (he played on Page's Death Wish II soundtrack and sounded exactly like Bonham)
Cliff Davies (possibly)
Bill Wade (MOXY) sounded a lot like Bonham
Jon Hyde (Detective) sounded a lot like Bonham
Denny Carmassi (Montrose, Heart, others) I believe he had the Bonham feel down
 
Replacing Bonham, huh? While I do wish Zeppelin would have continued, things would be very different today if they had. Bonham became immortalized after his death and left very big shoes to fill. Even in the far-and-few-between Led Zepplin appearances in the mid-80's and 90's the drummers they used couldn't hold a candle to Bonham. Even if they had gone forward and found a new drummer, it would have drastically altered Zeppelin's sound. The new drummer would have had to learn 12 years worth of material. Can you imagine Kashmir with somebody else? During the O2 concert in 2007 Jason Bonham sat in his father's seat. I was fine by that due to the father/son connection, especially because Jason knew what it meant to the fans, the band, and himself.

Could Bonham have been replaced, sure. Any of these drummers are competent and talented enough to pull it off, but I'm glad they never replaced him.
 
I will just comment on two.

Ian Paice - One of my favorite drummers but he did not have the same sound in my opinion. Ian is a much more technical drummer with a tighter sound.

Aynsley Dunbar - Another favorite of mine. His style is closer but still not anywhere near the power that Bonham had.

And I'll add a tongue in cheek comment. Carmine Appice? Well if he says he can then I am inclined to think otherwise!
 
Interesting topic. I would agree the person who had the closest feel to JB was actually Carmassi. Nobody even talks of him!
Appice, Powell and Dunbar for sure could cover but not quite the same.

Many drummers on that list were too busy to do so. Paice stayed with Purple died in the wool. Bunker had quit music for awhile after Tull.

I too am glad they called it quits. It showed how important JB was to what they were.
 
I think a lot of the good riffs were from messing around to Bonham's musing on different drum beats in the studio. How do you replace that?
 
Replacing Bonham, huh? While I do wish Zeppelin would have continued, things would be very different today if they had. Bonham became immortalized after his death and left very big shoes to fill. Even in the far-and-few-between Led Zepplin appearances in the mid-80's and 90's the drummers they used couldn't hold a candle to Bonham. Even if they had gone forward and found a new drummer, it would have drastically altered Zeppelin's sound. The new drummer would have had to learn 12 years worth of material. Can you imagine Kashmir with somebody else? During the O2 concert in 2007 Jason Bonham sat in his father's seat. I was fine by that due to the father/son connection, especially because Jason knew what it meant to the fans, the band, and himself.

Could Bonham have been replaced, sure. Any of these drummers are competent and talented enough to pull it off, but I'm glad they never replaced him.

This was well said, and I concur. Part of me is glad LZ never got old and stale. Look at the countless later Black Sabbath albums with multiple musicians in and out of the band. LZ never got even near that point and it is way better for their legacy.
 
While we're at it, let's decide who could replace Jimi Hendrix in the jimi hendrix experience.

I think what you're not accounting for is that bands like that make the music they do because of the people in them. While it may be possible to replace John and play the same notes he did in a set, you could not replace the person in that band, and unless you're john, you're not going to have the same impact.

In some pop band or something where new music/creativity doesn't matter, there are tons of easy replacements.
 
Replaced while keeping the integrity of the other three members in tact.....zero, thats why they didnt replace him.
 
The ONLY drummers that Zepp themselves considered were:Barriemore Barlow(who Bonham himself rated as the best ever drummer out of England/Uk),
&Cozy Powell who was best mates with Bonham,
End of discussion period! :).
 
The ONLY drummers that Zepp themselves considered were:Barriemore Barlow(who Bonham himself rated as the best ever drummer out of England/Uk),
&Cozy Powell who was best mates with Bonham,
End of discussion period! :).

Barriemore Barlow and Jim Gordon, they are two of my favorite drummers of that era and both would have made magic.Though Jim wouldn't have lasted. Barrie was John Bonhams favorite drummer, like you said. I also wonder about Simon Kirke fitting in..
 
Replacing Bonham, huh? While I do wish Zeppelin would have continued, things would be very different today if they had. Bonham became immortalized after his death and left very big shoes to fill. Even in the far-and-few-between Led Zepplin appearances in the mid-80's and 90's the drummers they used couldn't hold a candle to Bonham. Even if they had gone forward and found a new drummer, it would have drastically altered Zeppelin's sound. The new drummer would have had to learn 12 years worth of material. Can you imagine Kashmir with somebody else? During the O2 concert in 2007 Jason Bonham sat in his father's seat. I was fine by that due to the father/son connection, especially because Jason knew what it meant to the fans, the band, and himself.

Could Bonham have been replaced, sure. Any of these drummers are competent and talented enough to pull it off, but I'm glad they never replaced him.

I don't disagree, but I also think, what if Bonham had lived?

The music industry when through big changes in the 80's. How would Led Zep respond? Would Bonham have started using a click in the studio?
Would they start making albums with the huge processed drum sounds?

If you listen to what Plant and Page did musically in the 80's, both both tried to distance themselves from anything that sounded like Zep (with the possible exception of Plant's "Open Arms" that had a Zep vibe).

Would Zep have released "Radioactive" or "Little by Little" ?

So even if they had replaced Bonham, maybe they would have purposely selected someone who didn't sound like Bonham. Much like how The Who picked a drummer who did NOT sound like Keith Moon.

Or if Bonham had lived, Zep would have either drastically altered their sound or broken up eventually. What they did in the 70's wouldn't have simply just continued as it was.

But to answer the OP's, question, I'd have to throw in Phil Collins to the list.

Cozy Powell would have certainly been interesting.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Bernard Purdie or Hal Blaine. :)
 
I'm of the opinion that it was about time for them to call it a day anyway.

I don't really think they were doing their best work by that point, and given where Page and Plant have gone musically since, I don't imagine we would have received much new material that would be really great.

Would it have sold a lot, sure. Would they still be killer at playing their old stuff, definitely. Would it be what people came to see and want to hear, likely not.
 
I'll chime in and say it'd be a different band if they replaced him. Whoever coming in would transform the whole thing to make it their own anyway, because that wouldn't be fair to them. Just like Mangini joining Dream Theater, it's a different band now and it should be with him in it. I too, am glad Zeppelin did what they did.
 
I'm of the opinion that it was about time for them to call it a day anyway.

I don't really think they were doing their best work by that point, and given where Page and Plant have gone musically since, I don't imagine we would have received much new material that would be really great.

Would it have sold a lot, sure. Would they still be killer at playing their old stuff, definitely. Would it be what people came to see and want to hear, likely not.

I get what you're saying. While Bonham's death was the main reason by far they broke up, I've always had the feeling it was not the only reason.
 
I get what you're saying. While Bonham's death was the main reason by far they broke up, I've always had the feeling it was not the only reason.

My feeling too from what books I've read. They were on a downwards spiral before that point in terms of popularity, creatively and also relevance thanks to the emergence of Punk music and the youth shifting towards that.

People close to the band have also alluded to the personal tragedy in Plant's life making him revaluate what he wanted to do musically. Maybe they wouldn't have been a band for much longer around the point of Bonham's passing.

I guess we'll never know.
 
I'm not the greatest with this kinda stuff but I originally thought of having Jason Bonham as his replacement but Jason would have been far too young to be replacing his father. But Vinny Appice could have been one even though he would've been in his early 20's. Some other ones I think I would work too would be some people like Lee Kerslake or Peter Criss? I don't know if those would be amazing ones but they are just some suggestions. I know they were influenced by Bonham but like I said, just suggestions.
 
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