Jason Bonham

Sonic Boom ad
Advertisement

Monday, October 27, 2008

Vocal auditions continue; Alter Bridge singer would juggle bands, bandmate says

The search for a new singer to join Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham is on, sources including Jones himself have confirmed either publicly or to news organizations.

Jones said as recently as yesterday that no one singer had been identified for his project with the other musicians. He did say the new music is loud and has been enjoyable for everyone involved.

His comments, delivered Sunday, were the first to come directly from any of the musicians after Robert Plant announced he had no intention of touring or recording with the others despite having joined up with them in December at Led Zeppelin's only full concert in over 27 years.

Two days ago, England's Daily Mail reported that Steven Tyler had been rehearsing with Page, Jones and Bonham, citing an anonymous source. Jones, in his spoken comments the following day, did not allude to any particular singers but said an announcement would be made only after a decision is made.

One oft-cited possible singer for Page, Jones and Bonham is Myles Kennedy, who is currently the vocalist for Alter Bridge, a Florida-based rock group that is scheduled to tour the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in November and December. This will include an early date, Nov. 8, in the Led Zeppelin base of London, that will be filmed for a DVD release. (This development is somewhat reminiscent to me of the Foo Fighters shows in London that were released on DVD earlier this year with an encore set including Page and Jones. I'm not saying history will repeat itself; I'm just saying it crossed my mind.)

For the first several weeks, none of Alter Bridge's members were known to be addressing the longstanding rumors of Kennedy's possible selection to join Page, Jones and Bonham. Guitarist Mark Tremonti has broken the silence in an interview published in Kerrang magazine, revealing that Kennedy would remain a member of Alter Bridge during time off with the British musicians. Tremonti says he welcomes the attention Alter Bridge would gain if Kennedy were to tour in some capacity with Page, Jones and Bonham.

Tremonti, a former member of Creed, formed Alter Bridge in 2004 with two other former Creed members and selected as their new singer Kennedy, who was singing for West Coast group the Mayfield Four. It was with a brief singing and acting role in the 2001 film "Rock Star" that Kennedy made his theatrical debut, giving him his first-ever connection to Bonham, who played drums for the movie's fictional band.

While Kennedy has not directly commented on his rumored link to Page, Jones and Bonham rehearsals, he did recently write on his official blog that he has been composing new music that could be used for a project other than Alter Bridge. He did not elaborate on what that project might be.

In August, Bonham became the first of the bunch to reveal he had been jamming with Page and Jones in England. Page offered sparse words early in September tempering media speculation that a Led Zeppelin tour or album was a certainty. Plant's announcement that he did not intend to participate in any Led Zeppelin activities followed at the end of the month, which coincidentally included the 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin's first concert.

About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

Do you have a news tip to share with Steve? Do you have something you would like him to write about? Would you like to book him for a speaking engagement? He can be contacted by e-mail at Steve at LedZeppelinNews.com.

Other Led Zeppelin information from Lemon Squeezings

Lemon Squeezings archive

Like what you see?

Please consider a donation today to help keep LedZeppelinNews.com up-to-date!