In 1980, the world of rock ‘n’ roll lost one of its most prolific drummers, John Bonham. Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, passed away unexpectedly at 32 years old after suffering from pulmonary aspiration following a heavy day of drinking. Less than two months later, Led Zeppelin officially split ways on December 4, 1980.

Their decision to split was a direct response to Bonham’s death. Their official statement read, per UCR: “We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were.”

Bonham’s loss evidently impacted Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones to the utmost degree. As a matter of fact, after Bonham passed and Zeppelin split, Plant saw no need for a full-blown Led Zeppelin reunion, as he seemingly couldn’t imagine performing without his dear friend, John Bonham.

Two years after Bonham’s death and Led Zeppelin’s break-up, Plant released his debut solo album, Pictures At Eleven. Consequently, he spoke with the media for the first time in two years. During that interview with Classic Rock, Plant divulged what the two years of absence from the limelight had been like. Furthermore, he discussed why Led Zeppelin would never get back together in light of Bonham’s passing.

“There’s absolutely no point,” he told the publication. “No point at all. There are certain people you don’t do without in life, you don’t keep things going for the sake of it. There’s no functional purpose for keeping things going.”

“No one could ever have taken over John’s job,” Plant continued. “Never, ever! Impossible. I listen to Zeppelin stuff now and I realise how important John was. When he drummed, he was right there with either my voice or whatever Pagey was doing… You couldn’t have found anybody with the same kind of ingredient to make the band really take off like John did. You don’t start carrying on with people who weren’t a part of that.”

Allegiance, loyalty, and camaraderie are the sentiments that seemingly made John Bonham irreplaceable. For the most part, Plant stood by these comments, as Led Zeppelin never reunited in a formal and extensive capacity. Rather, they reunited for a few one-off shows here and there. To Plant, Bonham was the heart of the band, and no one could fill his shoes.