Hopes for a Led Zeppelin reunion have dwindled with each passing year. After Robert Plant made it clear he had no intentions of reconvening with the iconic classic rock group, Jimmy Page jumped into lengthy process of Zeppelin album reissues. Now, the silver haired guitarist has plans to tour in 2016, further solidifying to fans that they may never see the trio of Plant, Page and John Paul Jones grace a stage ever again. Jason Bonham, however, believes that he and the group will definitely play together in the future.
"In my heart of hearts... I do believe we will play together again," Bonham, who fills in and mans the drum kit for his late father, John Bonham, told Vanyaland. "It remains to be seen if it will be in public or privately, but I do think we will play again."
The drummer also detailed Plant's ultimate decision to walk away from the group trailing the 02 Arena gig in London and what supergroup almost took flight instead, including auditions from Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler and Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge.
"I had a personal talk with Robert, and what we talked about was very special, and I totally respect his wishes. It was between us and I'm grateful that we had time to talk about that," Bonham revealed.
"Then I got a call from Jimmy's manager at the time, and we were going to get together and do a side project. So basically me, Jimmy and John Paul Jones got together on a few occasions to see if we could do something. We started writing together, and there was a possibility of a couple of different singers - which has all been documented now. As Jimmy said, 'We were never gonna call if Led Zeppelin.' We had a great time; I love Steven [Tyler] and I love Myles [Kennedy] - they were both great. It's a very special memory in my life."
Even though Bonham still sees a Led Zeppelin reunion looming, Plant made his stance pretty clear back in 2014 when he told Rolling Stone, "A tour would have been an absolute menagerie of vested interests and the very essence of everything that's sh*tty about big-time stadium rock," later saying he is not part of a juke box.
With anything Led Zeppelin related being just a mere idea in the future, fans can look forward to Page's 2016 solo tour, which will provide a "totally different" backing band, spanning Led Zep hits, classic tracks from the Yardbirds and solo material from the 71-year-old guitarist's career.
