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I was really into motocross. I started racing when I was 10 years old and did very, very well. That was my dream, if anything, more than drumming.
I remember when I went to see Led Zeppelin live in 1979 at Knebworth, there were certain songs that stood out to me and will stay with me forever.
I've searched all of my life for approval from my dad who is not around. So if I can get approval by his fans or from peers and critics, it helps me.
To play like John Bonham is the hardest thing in the world because you're not John Bonham. It's how you breathe out of your heart. It's your emotions.
As I've gotten older, as I've gotten familiar with all different types of music, stuff that I didn't like when I was younger I actually kind of like now.
I was thrilled to hear Mick Jones wanted me to be involved in celebrating 40 years of Foreigner. I spent three years as their drummer and had a great time.
If you had asked me in 2005, when I had just joined Foreigner, that I would leave the band in 2007 to play with Led Zeppelin, I would have said you're nuts.
I loved 'Rain' and its take on the Beatles. The way they used a timeline and news reel to create a mood, and crafted set changes throughout, it was stunning.
Dad's influence naturally came into me, rather than trying to emulate every detail. His way of teaching me was to be sparse, and to be explosive when it needed to be.
Everyone knows these stories about a wild and crazy guy called Bonzo, but at home he was just like any other father; always hollering at me for not doing my homework.
As far as being a drummer, to me it's a positive that he's my father. To be mentioned alongside him... I mean, you Google his name and mine comes up, too - wow! Not too shabby.
Every drummer I've ever spoken to or read an interview with - my dad is always in their top three. I'm honored to share his name and represent him all these years after he's gone.
I think that my performances with Led Zeppelin got better with each performance and I think that our performances as Led Zeppelin Experience have also gotten better with each show.
Performing my father's songs at the Led Zeppelin O2 reunion concert in 2007 was an honor that I will forever remember as one of the most bittersweet, yet greatest nights of my life.
I'm playing my father's music and I'm a fan of Led Zeppelin. The response has been beyond what I ever imagined it would be. Unreal. Everyone seems to understand the story I'm telling.
I found my childhood scrapbook and there's an interview in there with dad from 1970. He talks about how long he's been playing the drums and he'd only been playing drums six years in 1970.
Led Zeppelin is part of my life, a huge part, that I enjoy immensely. But I don't want people to think this is all that I do. There is a creative side to my brain that needs to be fed, too.
When I turned 17, I had a bike malfunction at a race, and in my head, I went, 'You know what? I'm done. I'm going to go play drums.' I still ride my bikes for fun, but that was the turning point.
It's imperative that I continue putting together the best shows and take it to the next level. I'm talking to people about holograms, and my dream is to do the hologram drum solo with dad next to me.
I heard heart wrenching stories about fans who had tickets for the 1980 show in Montreal, the first concert that didn't happen, when my dad died. They'd be in tears. It was hard to deal with sometimes.
I am notoriously hard on myself in terms of working on new material and while I am critical of my performance on the Led Zeppelin material, I am way more critical of my own stuff. I'm pretty hard on myself.
My daughter wasn't into that type of rock music and kind of played it off. But then these teenage boys started coming around, and Led Zeppelin, I don't know, it became reinvented. Now she's very proud of her grandfather.
I did not want to go onstage and play Led Zeppelin songs; there has to be more than that. I wanted to create a complete experience of what Led Zeppelin means to me, growing up around them and being part of it all my life.
I never imagined in my wildest dreams when I was 17 watching Van Halen at a Donington Park rock festival and seeing Sammy Hagar later on when I was in the United States playing that I would end up with a band of guys I bought albums of.
Dad was pretty solid. He had great grooves and there was occasional moments of sheer brilliance with fills and things, but in general, the sheer brilliance is the simplicity, how much groove, how much feel he had, all the subtleties that we miss.
We were both into motocross. My dad would wake me up at 6:30 on weekends, brew some coffee and make some sandwiches for us. Then we'd spend the day racing together. I know he had this reputation as being wild and irresponsible, but I never saw any of that.
Everyone knows who Bonzo is - you can just go pick up those books and read these fisherman's-tale stories. But at home he was a regular dad who would ground me and embarrass me in front of my friends. He was in Led Zeppelin and he would still embarrass me!
I don't mind talking about dad and stuff, because that's part of my life, you know? For me to pretend to be like him, and do the same things he used to do is over. I can see past it now. It took me thirty-eight years and sobriety to realize who Jason Bonham is.
I've been working on some original songs with the band that does the Led Zeppelin experience. We're going to start writing as an original band and see what comes out of it. It'll be kind of Zeppelin-esque because of the way the guys play - but there's nothing wrong with that.
Somebody asked me the other day, 'What do you love the most about the show?' I said, 'The conversations that I have with my father in my head while I'm playing.' If I do something pretty good... I mean, I'm playing the gig and I'm saying in my head, 'Hey, check that one out, dad.'
My biggest 'Spinal Tap' moment was a stupid one as well. When we were rehearsing for the Zeppelin O2 gig, I was having an argument with my drum pedals. I actually took them outside, and drove over them several times with the car. Shouting at them and telling them they'll never work again.
I'm hugely affected by what people think. It could be a million people saying, 'Great.' And then one person writes, 'What the hell is this kid doing?' and starts slagging me off, for some reason, and then I have to join in the blog and sign in under a different name and go,'Why don't you like him?'
I've loved Range Rovers. That goes back to when I was a kid. My dad had the first ever Range Rover that was ever made - the first wave back in the '70s - and he had one every year from that moment, and mom has continued to do that. From the moment they started Range Rovers, they've been in my family.
I think I misunderstood the following in the footsteps bit, in a few of my early drinking years. I'd take any form of being compared to Dad as flattery. So if I fell off a stool or smashed up a TV set just because I was drunk, and somebody in the bar went 'Hey, man, that was just like Bonzo!' I would be really happy.
When the album 'Duke' came out, by Genesis, Phil Collins beat Dad in a drummers poll. My dad got me to learn 'Turn It On Again' by Genesis. I'd play it, and he'd go, 'Do it again,' until I got it right. I'd play it until I nailed it, and then he went, 'I don't see what the big deal is. My 12-year-old son could play that song.'
You know, I went through the whole blond hair bit. And dad took me to see The Police when I was 13. And I was like, this is a cool band, dad. See this is a cool band. And I felt bad for years because then a year later... I never had a chance to tell him how great I think was. After he passed away, I would go and listen to his music.
Well, when you grow up in a family situation like in England, you're whole - we call it pub culture, and it is, really. You grow up, you literally come home from work, everyone goes to the pub at 6:30, you drink till 10:30, go home and go to bed. That was our entire life - all my aunts and uncles, and my grandfather drank 'til he was 85.