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March 11, 2025

How Jason Bonham Helped Rescue ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’

Members of Led Zeppelin, particularly guitarist Jimmy Page, worked hard to make sure that Becoming Led Zeppelin authentically presented their early days.As Jason Bonham tells the UCR Podcast, he also helped sort out an important detail regarding how his late father, John Bonham, would be represented in the film. “I got to see a version of it a few years ago and the voice was wrong,” he shares. “Probably from the years of them having a tape and it being transferred, there was a slight pitch issue.”Bonham’s mother suggested that he watch the film as it was in progress and weigh in with his thoughts. “She didn’t tell me what I needed to look for, [but] she felt the same way,” he recalls. “Obviously, they’re watching me to get my reaction. As I’m watching the documentary, I’m realizing, how are they going to do this? Because everybody’s narrating their own story and my dad’s not around. So there was an anxiety when he started to speak and I welled up.”READ MORE: ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Movie ReviewHearing his dad’s voice, Bonham heard that it was slightly higher than it should have been. “Oh, that’s weird, I don’t remember him sounding like that,” he thought. “At the end, they went, ‘We looked for the reaction and we were surprised.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s not him. The voice [has changed with] the translation between tapes and copies. You need to do your research a bit more. You need to listen to the Zeppelin albums, where you [can] hear where the timbre of his voice is.”Watch the ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ TrailerBonham Has His Own Special Zeppelin MemoriesUltimately, the drummer says they corrected his dad’s voice, and it’s something he was grateful to hear in its finished form. He also remembers a poignant anecdote that Page shared with him about the village of Pangbourne, where the group would rehearse in a boathouse the Led Zeppelin guitarist owned. “He doesn’t mention it in the film, but Jimmy said, ‘You used to come down with [your father] to Pangbourne, because he didn’t have a babysitter and your mom was working. So you would come down with him and sit while we were playing. You’d sit and play records.’ I’m going, ‘Wow, I’d play records?’ He goes, ‘Well, you used to use them as Frisbees, mainly. I knew just to give you a pile either I didn’t need or like anymore. I always knew you had good taste, because you threw Robert [Plant]’s single out of the balcony.”Bonham will honor the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti by performing the whole album on upcoming tour dates with his band. “There’s going to be a lot of thinking on our part to make it more of a show,” he shares. “So it’s not so obvious, but you’re still surprised as well as pleased.”The Best Song From Every Led Zeppelin AlbumChoosing the best song isn’t easy, since many of their LPs come together as a piece – and they include so many classic tracks.Gallery Credit: Michael GallucciYou Think You Know Led Zeppelin?Next: All 92 Led Zeppelin Songs Ranked