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Plan to install John Bonham statue in late Led Zeppelin drummer’s hometown approved

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Richard E. Aaron/Redferns John Bonham‘s hometown of Redditch, U.K., has approved a plan to have a statue of the late Led Zeppelin drummer installed in the town center. The Redditch Advertiser reports that the town council gave the project the green light a meeting held Wednesday.

The bronze memorial, designed by respected British sculptor Mark Richards, will be located in Redditch’s Mercian Square. The statue will be about six feet high, 16 feet wide and four feet deep, and will weigh about 5,500 pounds.

Most of the money for the statue was raised from private donations via The John Bonham Memorial Fund, which was founded in 2013. Bonham’s sister, singer Deborah Bonham, was a longtime supporter of the campaign. In a video posted on a local BBC affiliate’s Twitter page, Deborah says she’s “absolutely thrilled” about getting permission to erect the memorial.

The plan is to unveil the statue by what would have been John’s 70th birthday in May 2018. Bonham died in September 1980 after a night of heavy drinking. He was only 32.

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