Jason Bonham retracts 'untrue' story about being given cocaine as a teenager by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page

'I unconditionally retract all derogatory and defamatory comments relating to Mr J Page'

Jimmy Page and Jason Bonham (Getty Images)

Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, has retracted a recent story about being given cocaine by guitarist Jimmy Page.

Bonham told US radio host Howard Stern last week that Page had given him the drug when he was just 16 years old.

“Jimmy was the first one to ever give it to me,” Bonham, who has also drummed for Led Zeppelin, told Stern.

“I was 16 at this point, and there was a woman on the floor with a collar on, meowing, and he had this grinder thing... and he turned it over and he went, ‘Here you go,’ and I went, ‘Thanks.’ He’s like, ‘You’ve done this before, right?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, of course I have.’”

Bonham claimed he took all the drugs without realised they were supposed to be shared between the whole band.

“I just did all of it, and he went, ‘Just like your father – you know, that was supposed to be for all of us’,” Bonham said at the time.

Bonham has since released a statement on his website apologising to Page for making up the story.

“I unconditionally retract all derogatory and defamatory comments relating to Mr J Page that I made in that interview,” the statement reads.

“In particular it is wholly untrue that Mr J Page offered me any illegal substances either when I was a minor or at all. I apologise to Mr Page, unreservedly, for making these unfounded and untrue comments about him.

“Out of my long held respect for Mr Page I will make no further comments on the Interview and I agree to make no further comments which Mr Page might view as disparaging, either now or in the future.”