Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, former The Police drummer Stewart Copeland shared his strong opinions back in 2018. Accordingly, Copeland initially struggled to appreciate Led Zeppelin’s music, largely due to his disfavor for Robert Plant’s singing style. Then in 2019, Copeland admitted that he had met John Bonham just before his death, but had no memory of it. He also added that Bonham was not a ‘wonderful company.’ These bold comments resonated at the time.
Copeland Couldn’t Appreciate Bonham At First Due To Plant’s Singing
In an interview with Ultimate Guitar back in 2018, Stewart Copeland said that it took some time until he really got into Led Zeppelin’s music because he wasn’t a fan of Robert Plant’s singing. He stated that he was able to recognize John Bonham’s talent only later on. He said:
“I wasn’t a Bonham guy either until years later. I was a Mitch (Mitchell) guy and a Ginger (Baker) guy. Bonham I didn’t get. I didn’t notice him because the singing put me off. So I couldn’t take Led Zeppelin seriously because of that singing. I never even got as far as checking out the drums. But later on, I came to realise what a monster he was.”
Jason Bonham Claims Copeland Met His Dad; Copeland Has No Memory Of It
In 2019, Copeland spoke to BBC Radio 4 and revealed that he had no memory of meeting John Bonham despite Jason Bonham telling him about their meeting. He himself was surprised that he didn’t remember it. He said:
“His son Jason (Bonham) says we met, but how can I not remember meeting John Bonham for Christ’s sake? So I don’t have a memory of meeting him. Although I’m told that we met, how is this possible? Because it was before (Copeland got famous), he was him and I was just little old me at the time. It’s hard to imagine.”
He went on to talk about Bonham, adding that he was a difficult man in person, but his sound was ‘monstrous.’ He said:
“He was not known to be wonderful company as a human being. But dang, drummers argued long into the night about how did he get that monstrous sound. The size of it, not just what he plays but how he plays it. It’s like he is playing on a mountain, the earth shakes when he hits those tom-toms. How does he do that? We are all scratching our heads about that.”
Copeland On Bonham’s Influence On Him
Despite discovering his talent later, Bonham’s drumming inspired Stewart Copeland. In another interview with Farout Magazine in 2022, he was asked if it would be fair to compare him to John Bonham. He replied:
“I’m more inspired by him now than I was growing up.”
And for the drummers he was most influenced by, he said:
“It was all Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell then, and Bonham came later.”
Even if you were the original drummer of The Police, you may discover the talent of another musician much later. Stewart Copeland changed his mind years later and is now a John Bonham fan.
