Bonham: 'Time Will Tell' If Zep Keeps Playing
Jason Bonham onstage Dec. 10 in London
December 18, 2007, 11:45 AM ET
Gary Graff, Detroit
Still buzzing from Led Zeppelin's reunion show on Dec. 10 in London, drummer Jason Bonham says he's the wrong guy to ask about any future plans for the group.

"I'm still the new guy, and I wouldn't know," Bonham -- whose late father, John Bonham, was Zep's original drummer -- tells Billboard.com. "There's been no talks except to Jimmy (Page) and Robert (Plant) and John Paul (Jones), just to say thanks for the best Christmas present I could ask for. It really meant a lot to me."

"Is it gonna be again? Don't be greedy," he continues. "Just take it for what you've done and be proud to be part of that. If they do it again, of course I would love to. But that's up to them. Only time will tell. If you'd have asked me a year ago, 'Are they gonna do a date next year?,' I'd have gone, 'No way!' So I was proved wrong once before."

Bonham says that even a week after the show, the experience "still ... kinda feels surreal, like it never really happened in some way." But he does feel that the show, part of a tribute to the late Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, provided some vindication after what he felt was a sub-par performance with Zep at the Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary concert in 1988 in New York.

"I had to work at it, really prove that I could do it and not just say, 'Hey, I'm John Bonham's son. I should be doing it,'" he explains. "I put a lot of work into it ... listening to all the different live versions I had. You've got to earn this, 'cause there's a million drummers out there that would love to cut your throat right now and take over."

"I'm amazed. I pulled it off," he enthuses. "So it's very special for me, just ... everything. If you'd have wanted a moment for everyone to get it right at one point, that was it."

Bonham returns to his regular drum chair in Foreigner at the end of the month for a couple of shows in Florida -- where he and his family reside -- including a New Year's Eve date with the B-52's at the Universal Studios Citywalk in Orlando. That show will be broadcast live by Comcast's CN8 network at 9 p.m. EST.

Led Zeppelin tour rumors continue to persist. The latest comes out of the U.K., where the group is reportedly considering a series of stadium shows. But nothing has yet been confirmed, and Plant has already begun scheduling late spring shows with Alison Krauss.




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