John Bonham’s Bathrobe Sold For Impressive 23K
British rock band Led Zeppelin, (left - right): John Paul Jones, John Bonham (1948 - 1980), Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, pose in front of an their private airliner The Starship, 1973. Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Bryan Adams’s former guitar tech, Mark (Lance) Stadnyk, was a rock memorabilia collector. Bryan Adams has an extensive microphone collection. While on tour, during downtime, Lance would shop local places looking for microphones for Bryan and assorted items for himself, but his prized possession wasn’t found in a pawn shop. It was given to him by John Bonham. Lance’s prized possession was John Bonham’s bathrobe.
How Did Standnyk Get John Bonham’s Bathrobe?
Wayne Learie was the auctioneer for Lance Stadnyk’s recent memorabilia auction (Lance passed in 2022). Wayne knew Lance and related this story to The Vancouver Sun:
“I was at Lance’s one day and I said, ‘What is your most prized possession?’ ” said Learie. “He said, ‘I’ve got John Bonham’s housecoat. I was in the States at a big party and we were all hammered. At five in the morning, I left my room and Bonham was coming down the hallway wearing the housecoat.’
“Lance said, ‘Hey John, give me that housecoat for a souvenir.’ And he said Bonham whipped it off and said, ‘Take it!’”
Can I Buy Items From this Auction?
The auction is over, however, you can check out the items listed on icollector.com. Most of Lance’s collection were Beatles’ items, but the John Bonham bathrobe was in a league of its own. According to Wayne Learie, there was a bidding war for the bathrobe between two Americans and a Canadian. The winning bid came from Texas. With fees, the final price for the bathrobe was $23,780. The robe has “Bonzo” embroidered on the front and the Swan Song logo on the back. You can find out more about the auction and the prices items sold for HERE.
Delve into the history of one of the biggest concerts of all time. Read on for the details behind what (at the time) was the largest single-band show in history (more than 76,000 people showed up).
Led Zeppelin At The Silverdome - The 1977 Record-Breaking Show
Led Zeppelin at the Silverdome shattered records with their April 30th, 1977 performance. Massive ticket sales prompted the Silverdome to be concerned with how the concert would run. Especially in light of events just days before in Cincinnati. A fan of Led Zeppelin had been pushed from the third level of the Cincinnati Coliseum and died when he was hit by traffic.
With crazy high record sales, the Silverdome prepared for the show by formulating a plan. A plan which included letting the fans in early and reserving over 14,000 seats. Even with the band being late, reports say the crowd was mostly chill. When there are 70,000+ people involved though, you know there were still some moments of insanity from Led Zeppelin at the Silverdome.
Record-Breaking Stats From Led Zeppelin’s Silverdome Show
Tickets sales broke records at the time topping $847,000 (with inflation, more than 4 million dollars) for one show. Tickets sold for $10.50 before the sellout. Some fans arrived earlier on Friday afternoon. While scalpers were out selling tickets for upwards of $70. The crowd also broke the attendance record with 76,200 there to see the show.
Entire documentaries have been dedicated to delving into the show’s events for Led Zeppelin at The Silverdome. Here’s the most recent one:
Led Zeppelin played for 3 hours with no break. Jimmy Page rocked the stage with his shirt open with his bandmates, Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones. During that three hours, they played seventeen songs, starting with “The Song Remains the Same” and ending with “Stairway to Heaven” and wrapped with two encore songs: “Rock and Roll” and “Trampled Under Foot.”
The website LedZeppelin.com has an amazing resource of old clippings, photos and articles that cover so many of the band’s journey. It’s totally worth checking out. There is something magical about seeing all of these old tickets and photos saved and uploaded by the fans over the years. In 1977, 16-year-old Elaine Alexander of Mt Clemens said “Words can’t even explain it. It was great!”
Led Zeppelin At The Silverdome: The Set List 4/30/77
Donielle Flynn has two kids, two cats, two dogs, and a love of all things rock. She’s been in radio decades and held down top-rated day parts at Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington DC radio stations throughout her tenure. She enjoys writing about rock news, the Detroit community, and she has a series called “The Story Behind” where she researches the history of classic rock songs.
