They are without a doubt one of the biggest names to ever be scribed in the pantheon of rock 'n' roll! Other than the Beatles, what other rock artist, has whole blocks of music dedicated to them by radio stations on a regulation scheduled basis?

FM radio jocks all over the world have been "Getting The Led Out" ever since the band called in quits in the advent of drummer John Bonham's death in 1990. The illustrious rock hierarchy to which Led Zeppelin belongs can be counted upon one hand - Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, Pink Floyd and Elvis Presley. And only one of those fabled rock entities has a unique Chicago connection. You guessed it...Led Zeppelin!

On September 25, 1980...pandemonium of sorts hit the early morning streets of Chicago, when trucks delivering the Chicago Tribune were greeted at nearly every stop by throngs of rock fans. The reason was a full page ad appearing in that day's Trib advertising tickets for 4 nights of Led Zeppelin live at Chicago Stadium. The shows were booked for November 10, 12, 13 and 15 and tickets were only available via mail order from that one particular Tribune ad.

As the newspaper bundles were literally hitting the pavement of our toddlin' town, the news department's teletype machine at the radio station where I was working started clacking out an announcement that Zeppelin's drummer and cofounder, John "Bonzo" Bonham had been found dead the night before. With the tragic news unbeknownst to the fans, they mobbed the trucks and fired off money orders and checks by the thousands in that morning's mail.

"Semi trucks full of mail ... bag after bag after bag ... were delivered to the office of the Chicago Stadium Corp," recalled Michael Dehn of Metro Pulse, Inc. "Those ticket requests and checks just sat there (for months) until Zeppelin decided what they would do. When they announced that they would not go on as Led Zeppelin without Bonham, all the checks and moneys were returned to people."

The actual tickets for those shows never saw the light of day, because they were never shipped out. But all that has now changed and the Led Zeppelin tickets that caused all the ruckus so many years ago are now available to collectors. A rock historian and die-hard fan, Michael Dehn, is a former music periodical publisher turned memorabilia trader. His Metro Pulse, Inc. purchased all of the tickets for the ill-fated Chicago Zeppelin shows and all the legal documentation to prove their legitimacy back in 1986.

Very limited amounts of the historic tickets still remain available today. After all these years, Dehn is offering the remaining tickets to the public. The BEAT Magazine has secured a few of these rare gems via Metro Pulse, Inc. They are double-matted and shrink wrapped. We are giving them away in a very special writing contest. The rules are below...so start writing. Winning entries will be published in our December/January issue.

Those wishing more information on purchasing one of these rare collectibles, contact Metro Plus, Inc at (866) 533-9377 (or check out their ad on page 13).



Chicago rock fans camped out by the hundreds at newsstands all night to get the original ticket order form back in September of 1980. The four shows the LED ZEPPELIN were scheduled to perform at the now-demolished Chicago Stadium were canceled after JOHN BONHAM was found dead and Zep announced they would not continue without him.



archival photos from the Tom Lounges collection