Led Zeppelin’s U.S. dates halted mid-tour after Robert Plant received the news that his five-year-old son, Karac, had passed away. It was 1977 at the time as the frontman flew back to Britain, and the band decided to give him space to go through his pain.
Not much was heard from the act in the following months, as they took what we might call a hiatus. Fans and the media, however, were keen to know what was going on, so when Knebworth announced Zeppelin would headline the festival in 1979, all the eyes were on the four rockers.
So, with the band aware of the attention they would be getting, the rehearsals started taking place to ensure everything was smooth sailing, and on August 2, two days before the first show, they had a special guest: Jason Bonham.
John Bonham’s eleven-year-old son joined the band for their last soundcheck session and even got to play the drums while rehearsing ‘Trampled Underfoot.’ That was one of the rare moments where Jason accompanied his dad and Zeppelin publicly, and it seemed that John enjoyed collaborating with his son quite much, as he even had a dream gig featuring the young drummer.
John gave an interview to Chris Welch in 1975, four years before Knebworth, stating how his son was obsessed with drumming and how similar they were. The rocker then disclosed a dream of his, revealing how much he wanted to have Jason on Led Zeppelin’s possible second show at the Royal Albert Hall, a dream that never came true.
Bonham’s words followed:
“My son Jason – he plays, you know. I’ve got him a little Japanese drum kit, made to scale. It’s got a 14-inch bass drum. He’s got his mother’s looks, but in character, he is just like me. He’s always drumming, even when we go out in the car, he takes his sticks to bash on the seats. Before the end of Led Zeppelin, I’m going to have him on stage with us at the Albert Hall.”
Although John’s dreams never came true, Jason did take the stage with his father’s band in the upcoming years and even played on Jimmy Page’s solo record, ‘Outrider,’ featuring in a track where Robert Plant took the lead on the vocals.
