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Sunday
Jan272013

Watch Steven Adler Pay Tribute to John Bonham

Last Thursday at NAMM, a lot of drummers got together to pay tribute to late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham. The event was called Bonzo Bash NAMM Jamm 2013. There are a lot of cool performance videos of the show. I really liked the clip featuring Steven Adler because he's so happy. Check it out.


Reader Comments (15)

Ummm.That "happy grin"? It's because his face is paralyzed on one side like that due to a stroke caused by his drum addiction.

"It was the end of the road for Steven Adler, the end of the rock star trip, the end of his lifelong dream.... "I had just shot up some coke. I was in the bathroom, puking my guts up for the fourth time that day. A little coke, a little junk, just mix it together and get the needle.... Man I was good at that. But I must have mixed in too much coke.. I knew this was going to be some helacious speedball trip, and the only thing I could do was hang on for the ride."

"In the next moment, I was on my stomach, my face uncontrollably hitting the tile floor. My eyes were open - I was aware of what was happening, but I couldn't stop. I could glance over to the tub where in arms reach was a towel draped over it. All I had to do was grab the towel and shove it underneath my face. But I couldn't do it. I could feel my face hit the tile floor- up and down over and over again. And i couldn't stop as the convulsions swept over my body. I felt my teeth loosen as they broke away from my gums, I felt the
lacerations on my face. The last thing i remember was pounding my face in to a pool of blood."

This turned in to Steven Adler's first stroke, there was to be another, plus a heart attack, and an estimated 31 trips to the emergency rooms of various LA hospitals. "
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
DRUG addiction, not Drum addiction.

(How I wish there was an "edit" feature.)
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
Gripping stuff about Adler, Ace.

Talk about redemption. And the fact that he made it back and was then able to get beyond the whole Adler's Appetite "Tribute-like band" thing and now have what appears to be a pretty respectable gig with his own original, legitimate band could also be a reason this guy is perpetually smiling these days.

If you'll recall, he wasn't smiling so much during his stint on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab", so that might lead us to believe he is indeed actually genuinely smiling in this clip.

Too bad Bonham didn't live to tell us about his bout with alcohol. Then there might have been a chance we would be graced with his smiling face too, and maybe even better, on stage.

p.s. The Edit Feature is to hit "Preview", then then go through and proof read what you wrote and correct your typo manually. But don't worry, I never do it either. Couple that with the perpetually inaccurate "autocorrect" feature of an iPad and you've got a fairly lethal combination leading to the formation of some pretty ridiculous sentences.
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
It's always a pleasure watching him playing!
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterZB
Yes. "Popcorn" often smiled from ear to ear while performing. To say its cuz a stroke is kinda mean. Think drum addiction is more accurate.

He's a good one. Remember when people had fun onstage?
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKixchix
Read Steven's book if you get a chance. The fact this guy is still alive is a testament to the resiliancy of the human body. On a side note, I think that's a genuine smile.Guy always seems to be genuinely happy when he's playing,and that's a cool thing!! 8-)
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterGary
I have a real soft spot for this guy...I read too many negative reader comments on Blabbermouth about Adler by keyboard bandits that dont know shit about rock. I enjoyed Adlers book probably more than any other rock memoir out there, if you are reading this and havnt read it yet, go buy it cuz it's awesome. I havnt bought the new Adler record "Back from the Dead"...I've sampled it a couple times but not sure if I will bother buying it, again, thats just me, anyway, this guy has a great beat, great drummer!
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered Commentertoddwiggy
Come to think of it, didn't he smile a lot when he was playing drums on stage with G'n'R?
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
He sure did MB. Guy just seems to have a true affinity for playing. Like Todd said, his memoir is a really good read. I've read pretty much all of them out there,including Duff's nd Slash's from G&R, and Adler's is incredible compared to most. He lays bare all of his demons, and the boy had a truckload, let me tell ya.....
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterGary
He says in his autobiography that he decided early on the he would smile while playing his drums. He saw one of his heroes (forget who, sorry) playing with a big grin on his face & thought it was cool that he looked to be enjoying playing so much.
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterTony
What's interesting is maybe now the smile is more genuine because he survived all he did and is playing with a new joy considering everything is goin his way and he is so well loved by the Hair Metal community, and that means both fans and pros, alike.
January 27, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
People give Adler so much shit in the press and stuff. He has had his share of problems like everybody else in the world, but when it comes down to it, hes a fantastic drummer, he is fun to watch, he was part of one of the greatest bands ever, and he played on one of the greatest albums ever recorded....enough said.
January 28, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterdj
I remember seeing him play The Troub.in 86-87? and my memory of him smiling all night stuck in my head..even meeting him later on Melrose he was all smiles..glad he's here today to play!!
January 28, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJimbo
KixChicx, It wasn't meant to be "mean".
I was just stating a fact. I've known most of those guys since the Hollywood Rose days. Steven's a nice guy, not the sharpest tool in the shed, & a tool for "drugging" his way out of what could have been a long & lucrative career. Like many, I'm shocked that he's still alive, & as "GlamMetalBoy" pointed out, I'm glad that he got out of the shadow of his "tribute band to a band he was once in" , & is trying to make real original music again.
January 29, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
Dear Ace of Spades:

I'm a Black Sabbath, Accept and Saxon freak, first and foremost, okay? Do you think you can drop the "Glam Metal Boy" misnomer?

I like ALL kinds of METAL, thus the name Metalboy! Whether it's Actress or Priest, I love it all and I love it pretty much equally, having the same regard for Glam Metal as I do for Power Metal, and everything in-between -- a notion of "Metal Equality" many other Metalheads are simply incapable of recognizing.

Metalboy! has spoken!
January 30, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!

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