Being a bad boy of rock and roll wasn’t just encouraged in the genre’s early days—it was practically required. From whiskey-soaked performances to hotel room destruction, rock stars lived by their own rules. And while Led Zeppelin was known for its excess, John Paul Jones believed another band made them look like choirboys in comparison.
Led Zeppelin: The Myth vs. Reality
It’s impossible to talk about Zeppelin without acknowledging their wild reputation. They didn’t just push the limits of rock excess—they practically wrote the rulebook. The stories of their off-stage antics are legendary, but beneath the debauchery was a band that was deeply focused on the music.
Jones, often the most level-headed of the group, had a front-row seat to Zeppelin’s wild ride. While he managed to avoid some of the worst excesses, he witnessed firsthand how John Bonham’s reckless lifestyle ultimately led to the band’s downfall. Despite the stories of wild parties and trashed hotel rooms, Jones knew Zeppelin was far from the worst offenders.
The Who: The Real Madmen of Rock
For Jones, The Who set the real standard for rock and roll mayhem. Led by the unhinged genius of Keith Moon, the band wasn’t just about partying—they turned chaos into an art form. Unlike Zeppelin’s brand of indulgence, The Who’s antics often bordered on outright destruction.
Moon, in particular, was a force of nature. He didn’t just trash hotel rooms—he blew them up. He once drove a car into a swimming pool, frequently used explosives as practical jokes, and made sure that no hotel would ever let The Who book a room twice.
While Zeppelin had their share of over-the-top moments, Jones believed The Who took things to another level, later saying:
“There were other bands that were far worse than us. The Who used to blow things up! The truth is always more boring than the myth. The truth is that being in Led Zeppelin was bloody hard work. We’d play for two or three hours; sometimes four hours. We were very focused.”
The High Price of Excess
Despite all the stories of rock and roll debauchery, the tragic reality was that not everyone survived it. Led Zeppelin could have continued as one of the biggest bands in the world if Bonham had been able to rein in his drinking. The same could be said for Moon and AC/DC’s Bon Scott, both of whom never made it out of the chaos alive.
For Jones, the real takeaway from those days wasn’t about who partied the hardest—it was about the magic that happened on stage when a band was fully locked in. And while Zeppelin will always have their myths, Jones knew that the music was what truly mattered.
