10 Rock Bands That Quit At The Top

Throughout the '70s, there was no stopping Led Zeppelin. Ever since the end of the '60s, it seemed like these guys were going to be the flag-bearers for heavy rock, with every single album outdoing the previous in terms of aggression, speed, and grandiosity. So how did these guys manage to stop at the top? Simple: mortality.

After reaching one of their highest highs on Physical Graffiti, albums like Presence and In Through the Out Door showed a different side of Zeppelin, with songs that were reaching a lot further than just your typical blues jams. Even though things seemed to be firing on all cylinders, it all ended abruptly after a night of heavy drinking. With everyone retiring to bed, the rest of the band woke up the next morning to find drummer John Bonham dead of alcohol poisoning, having suffocated on his own vomit while he slept.

This wasn't just some average replacement job either. Bonham was the pure heart and soul of Zeppelin, giving every single album the drive and stomp that they needed to become classics. Seeing no point in continuing forward, the rest of the guys assembled one last compilation with Coda before finally calling it a day. It just goes to show that no matter how important you think one band member is, the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.