“He Was the Kind of Guy Who Liked Confrontation” – Ritchie Blackmore Exposes John Bonham’s Darker Side in Explosive Confession

Guitar icon Ritchie Blackmore has offered a rare glimpse into his volatile but oddly affectionate relationship with Led Zeppelin’s powerhouse drummer John Bonham — a dynamic defined by rivalry, humour, and an unfiltered exchange of egos.

Speaking in a resurfaced interview with Classic Rock, the former Deep Purple guitarist painted a picture of Bonham as both a “not happy man” and someone who “loved confrontation” — a duality that seemed to spark as much laughter as tension between the two legendary musicians.

“I used to be very friendly with Bonzo,” Blackmore recalled. “We’d be sitting drinking in [LA’s infamous rock haunt] The Rainbow and he’d be really up and drunk or really depressed.”

The pair’s verbal sparring was often charged with musical digs. Bonham once poked fun at Blackmore for the iconic riff to Smoke on the Water, mocking its simplicity: “It must be really hard to stand there and go: ‘der-der-derr, der-der, de-derr’,” Bonham said. Blackmore retorted with a jab at Whole Lotta Love: “Yeah, it’s nearly as difficult as going: ‘duh-der duh-der dum’.”

The exchange escalated, with Bonham accusing Blackmore of lifting riffs from Hendrix, including a claim that Smoke on the Water was a reworking of Hey Joe, and Immigrant Song borrowed from Little Miss Lover. “Bom-bobba-didom ba-bom bobbadidom…” Bonham argued, mimicking the drumbeat. “He was not a happy man, but he started it,” Blackmore noted.

But the tension, it seems, never lingered for long. The spat ended in an unlikely location: a shared toilet break.

“We then went upstairs to the toilet. We’re both there, weeing away, and he says: ‘Rich, did you mean all that?’ I said: ‘No, not really, I was just having a go back at you.’ He says: ‘Oh. I didn’t mean it either. There’s room at the top for everybody.’ So we carried on weeing, then went downstairs and started drinking again.”

For all their clashes, Blackmore insists it was Bonham’s nature to provoke — and to be provoked. “He loved it,” he said. “He was the kind of guy who liked confrontation, and I would always give it to him.”

Perhaps most revealing was Blackmore’s reflection on Bonham’s sense of competition, particularly with Led Zeppelin’s own guitarist. “I always remember when he said how we’d taken bits and pieces from people, so I told him where he got his stuff from. It was interesting to see how his mind was going: ‘Pagey, you bastard. Now I know!’”

Despite the jibes and alcohol-fuelled clashes, the undercurrent was one of mutual respect — albeit expressed in the most rock ‘n’ roll way possible: bluntly, loudly, and usually with a drink in hand.

Both men were towering figures of the hard rock movement, their bands part of the sacred trinity of British heavy rock alongside Black Sabbath. Their friendship, as combustible as their music, remains a vivid snapshot of an era when egos collided — and bonded — under stage lights and bar stools alike.