On 24 September 1980, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for a tour of North America, to begin 17 October in Montreal; it was the band’s first tour since 1977
During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he drank four quadruple vodka screwdrivers (16 shots, totalling between 400 and 560 ml). He continued to drink heavily at rehearsals. The band stopped rehearsing late in the evening and then went to Page’s house, the Old Mill House in Clever, Windsor. After midnight on 25 September, Bonham fell asleep; someone took him to bed and placed him on his side. Jones and the tour manager Benji LeFevre found him unresponsive the next afternoon.] Bonham was pronounced dead at 32 years old.
The inquest on 27 October 1980 showed that in 24 hours, Bonham had consumed around 40 shots (1–1.4 litres) of 40% ABV vodka, after which he vomited and choked, a condition known as pulmonary aspiration. The finding was accidental death.A post-mortem found no other recreational drugs in Bonham’s body. According to Rolling Stone, Bonham had recently overcome a heroin problem and was taking an unspecified medication for anxiety and depression at the time of his death.
Bonham’s remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980 in the graveyard at St Michael’s Church, Rushock, Worcestershire. Rather than replace Bonham, Led Zeppelin chose to disband. They said in a press release on 4 December 1980: “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.
