Jason Bonham says that he “would love to” pay tribute to his late father by performing with a hologram of the iconic LED ZEPPELIN drummer.
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White the recent Tupac Shakur, Roy Orbison and Ronnie James Dio holograms have been criticized by music fans for being a “cash grab,” there are some who look at it as something fun as well as a way to pay tribute to a great artist who is no longer with us.
Asked by “The Eddie Trunk Podcast” if he would be open to the idea of sharing the stage with a holographic version of John Bonham, Jason said: “I’d love to be able to try and do something in that way. I think that would be an amazing way to honor him.”
Jason launched JASON BONHAM’S LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE two years after taking part in LED ZEPPELIN‘s one-off performance at London’s O2 Arena tribute concert for friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The rare live set, which saw Jason behind the drums in place of his late father, was released in 2012 as “Celebration Day”.
“At the O2, it was my idea, at the end of ‘Rock And Roll’, for the lights to go out and it would go to one, if not six or whatever, of the best endings of ‘Rock And Roll’ from Dad. I said, “Can we end the O2 show, the ‘Celebration Day’ show…?’ where [Robert Plant sings], ‘Loney, loney, lonely, lonely, lonely time,’ and it goes to different versions from all the different tours, and, say, pick six or four of the best ones that we have in good-quality film, I guess. And you know what the guys said to me was? ‘You worked so hard all night to stop people comparing you. Why do you wanna give it back to him at the end?’ And that was a really weird, touching moment for me. But at the same time, I wanted to go, ‘But it’s my dad.’ And he goes, ‘They’ll never forget him. Don’t worry.’ But, he goes, ‘What you need to do is you go out there and you remind them that you’re his son and this is what he gave you.’ So it was very special. But I really wanted to give it to him again. So, in the end, what I did was I kept the sticks that I had on me as I walked off stage. I drove home, and the next morning I went to his grave and I buried them with him. I said, ‘Have them back. They’re yours again.'”