STEWART COPELAND

The gong that belonged to Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham has been sold for a hefty price of $64,000. According to Pulse of the Radio, an anonymous buyer purchased the gong a week ago after the instrument failed to sell at auction. Bonhams and Butterfields Entertainment Memorabilia, who handled the auction, had anticipated a winning bid as high as $120,000.

As reported previously by Gibson.com, Bonham’s use of the gong was “inspired by Carmine Appice, drummer with Vanilla Fudge, whom Led Zeppelin supported on their first US concerts, in December 1968. Jeff Ocheltree, John's former drum tech recalls in A Thunder Of Drums that ‘... The first Paiste gongs had Chinese caricature letters on them. Later on they had Paiste on them. John knew how to ‘warm up’ the gong with a mallet – and he used it for definite dynamic effect in a couple of tunes, not just for bashing....’”