According to The Pulse of Radio, John Bonham's gong sold for $64,000 on July 6 to an anonymous buyer after failing to sell at auction. LedZeppelinNews.com reported that the gong was consigned by Bonham's sister, singer Deborah Bonham, and their mother, Joan Bonham. The instrument which was used by Bonham onstage, was purchased on July 6 by a buyer who wished to remain anonymous during an "after-sale" when the gong failed to sell as part of Bonhams and Butterfields Entertainment Memorabilia auction. The gong was originally thought to bring in a price as high as $120,000.

A recent eBay sale ending on May 21 had a lucky fan purchasing a 1971 Orange Matamp used by Jimmy Page onstage between 1971 and 1973 for a cool $30,000.

John Paul Jones says that while some people mistook Bonham's powerful drumming style as a lack of control and technique; that was far from the case. "He wasn't musically out of control in any way," he says. "He knew just what he was doing. But he could take chances — as we all did in those days. Just take a lot of chances on stage. And it was great: sometimes it comes off, sometimes it don't."

John Bonham died on September 25, 1980 of pulmonary edema which is fluid accumulation in the lungs. He was 32 years old.