Zeppelin Drummer's Gong Available

05/28/09 11:17am

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham's gong, which he used to set on fire during performances, is expected to net about $121,000 U.S. (about $135,000 Canadian) when it's auctioned through the Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers in Los Angeles on June 14.

The 75-centimetre-wide hammered brass gong is painted with two Chinese characters and has been put up for sale by Bonham's sister and mother.

"He [set it on fire] more or less every night," bassist John Paul Jones told the U.K.'s Birmingham Post newspaper. "His roadie Mick Hinton had to set it alight. I think he used lighter fuel and it was quite dangerous.

"John got the idea from Carmine Appice when we supported Vanilla Fudge in the early days."

Bonham's drum kit included congas and orchestral timpani in addition to the gong. He was also the first drummer to use electronic timpani drum synthesizers during a 1977 performance.

Bonham drummed for Led Zeppelin from their formation in 1968 through to his death in 1980 from choking on his own vomit. He'd consumed about 16 shots of vodka and a ham roll that morning for breakfast and continued to drink throughout the day before he went to bed. He later vomited and suffered a pulmonary edema — an accumulation of fluid in the lungs — which led to his death.

Bonham's son Jason is a drummer and played with his father's band at their December 2007 reunion show.