Random Infamous Stories From Led Zeppelin's Heyday Most Fans Don't Talk About (16 items)

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  (#16) Zep Security Man John Bindon Enjoyed Waving His Notoriously Large Drum Stick About

  For its 1977 US tour, Zeppelin brought London underworld figure John Bindon and his brother along as security guards. Jack Calmes, who revolutionized concert sound and lighting systems and worked with Zeppelin frequently, recalled the following: 

  The Bindon brothers were thugs who were friends of Peter Grant’s and were on this whole tour as security guards. And they brought an element of darkness into this thing. The only thing I remember about John Bindon is that we were in The Roxy [in Los Angeles, prior to the Oakland shows] and he was in the back corner with Zeppelin, and he had his d*ck out, swinging it for a crowd of about 50 people that could see it [Bindon was famously well-endowed]. And John Bindon later stabbed this guy through the heart [he was acquitted of murder in ’79]; it sounds like something out of a blues song.
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  (#11) Jimmy Page Greeted Groupies Wearing Nothing But Whipped Cream

  Ever the enterprising lothario, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has no shortage of crazy sexual tales attached to his name. An instance of him greeting some groupies, however, gets some extra points for creativity. While out on tour - and apparently bored stiff at a hotel - Page and drummer John Bonham were struck with an idea for how to present the in-demand guitarist to a small horde of female fans.

  Page reportedly stripped completely naked and laid down on a room service cart; Bonham then covered him in whipped cream, and assuming the role of bell hop, wheeled him into a room of young women. Whatever happened next was probably really unsanitary.  
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  (#1) Jimmy Page Donned A Nazi Uniform While Doing Drugs With Drag Queens

  Jimmy Page is a weird guy. To some extent, he has the right to be - he's one of the best guitarists of all time. So when you read a story about him dressing up in full Nazi SS gear, you kind of shrug your shoulders for a second before doing a double-take on the words "full Nazi SS gear."

  According to Pamela Des Barres, the band's favorite groupie, in each city the band visited in the mid-'70s, Jimmy Page allegedly donned full SS regalia and found the nearest drag club, where he did heroin with the performers in the bathroom. 
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  (#3) Page Was So Obsessed With Aleister Crowley, He Bought His House in Scotland - Then Got Freaked Out And Stopped Going

  Jimmy Page's fascination with British mystic and occult legend Aleister Crowley, once called "the wickedest man in the world," is apparent in the symbols used on Zeppelin's album artwork, and manifests itself in Page's spending habits. He collected countless books and manuscripts by Crowley, including unpublished works and those inscribed by Crowley himself. 

  In 1970, Page bought Boleskine House, a remote manor in the Scottish highlands once owned by Crowley, which was at one point dubbed “the most notorious home in the Highlands.” Crowley is said to have performed all kinds of black magic and occult rituals at the home, which he bought specifically for that purpose. One of these rites was disrupted, which supposedly caused serious unrest in the area. 

  ...the spirits he summoned got out of hand, causing one housemaid to leave, and a workman to go mad. He also insinuates he was indirectly responsible for a local butcher accidentally severing an artery and bleeding to death. Crowley had written the names of some demons on a bill from the butcher’s shop.

  After a few trips to Boleskine in the early '70s, Page stopped going to the house. He spoke of "bad vibes," and claimed to have heard the severed head of a ghost - perhaps Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat - rolling around the floors at night. Page asked childhood friend Malcolm Dent to look after the house for him; Dent did, living there with his wife, raising his children in the home until Page sold it in the 1990s. 

  Dent claimed to have experienced strange goings on, as well:

  Doors would be slamming all night, you’d go into a room and carpets and rugs would be piled up. We just used to say that was Aleister doing his thing.

  In 2015, most of the manor was destroyed by a massive fire. 
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  (#9) They Ripped Off A Journalist's Clothes

  The members of Led Zeppelin were, in their heyday, huge rock stars. With that in mind, it's not hard to imagine the wealth of willing groupies they had around them. And yet, the band has a really problematic reputation when it comes to their interactions with women.

  One infamous tale of this abusive behavior involves a reporter from Life magazine who had been sent to profile the band. The boys - possibly soaring on an absurd amounts of drugs - started to harass the woman and allegedly tore off her clothes. The woman began to sob, understandably in fear for her own safety. Luckily, the band's manager, Peter Grant, reportedly came to her aide and pulled the band off her. 
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  (#8) Robert Plant's Son Died Extremely Suddenly While Zeppelin Was In The US

  In July 1977, immediately following a violent incident involving the band's manager and security in Oakland, CA, Led Zeppelin made its way to New Orleans. There, vocalist Robert Plant received two phone calls about his 5-year-old son, Karac, who was suddenly stricken with a grave stomach infection. 

  As tour manager Richard Cole recalled, “The first phone call said his son was sick. And the second phone call, unfortunately, Karac had died in that time.”

  The band immediately canceled the remainder of the tour, and Plant returned to England to be with his wife, Maureen, and their daughter, Carmen. As Plant's father said when interviewed in 1977, "Karac was the apple of Robert's eye. They idolized one another."

  Plant retreated from the band to deal with the tragedy. He later said, “After the death of my son Karac in 1977, I received a lot of support from [Bonham], and I went through the mill because the media turned on the whole thing and made it even worse." 

  Upon Karac's death, Plant quit all substances cold turkey and considered retiring from music to focus on a career in education. He eventually returned to Zeppelin. 

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