The late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham will be honored with a statue in his hometown of Redditch, UK.
The Redditch Advertiser reports plans for the tribute were given the go-ahead at an October 11 Redditch Council meeting after years of hard work and fundraising by The John Bonham Memorial Fund, formed in 2013 to raise cash for a permanent memorial.
The bulk of the funds for the statue, by renowned British sculptor Mark Richards, have been raised by a private donation.
A large bronze memorial depicting the Led Zeppelin drummer will be built in the town’s Mercian Square.
It is expected the statue will be revealed before what would have been the drummer's 70th birthday in May of next year.
“How absolutely thrilled I am that this is happening in Redditch," the late drummer's sister, Deborah Bonham, tells the BBC. "We just got planning permission, so I'm absolutely thrilled; we're going to have a John Bonham memorial. Brilliant."
The Led Zeppelin rocker died on September 25, 1980 at the age of 32 after a heavy drinking session before, during and after band rehearsals for an upcoming tour; he reportedly drank 40 shots of vodka in his final 24-hours before choking on his own vomit, causing asphyxiation.
After years of campaigning, John Bonham's sister Deborah has finally got permission for a memorial to him in Redditch town centre. pic.twitter.com/FjfUTd2x8a
— BBC H and W (@bbchw) October 11, 2017
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