“One night Zeppelin were all going down the boozer and I said, 'You guys bugger off but Bonzo, you stay behind because I've got an idea’”: The genius behind John Bonham’s towering When the Levee Breaks drum sound

Led Zeppelin.

DRUMS WEEK 2025: Sporting one of the most beloved (and most heavily sampled) drum tracks of all time, Led Zeppelin’s spin on Memphis Minnie’s When the Levee Breaks is widely hailed as one of the rock behemoth’s finest moments.

Though Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were in fine fettle across the song’s ever-shifting sands, it’s the perfectly-tailored punch and swagger of John Bonham’s drums that everyone continues to cite as its most crucial element.