Jager Henry, son of Jason Bonham, spoke with Loudwire Nights and shared why he chose to be a singer instead of following in his father’s footsteps as a drummer.
“Yeah, I just kinda liked making music. It’s not trying to hide the name, not that it’s not important either, it doesn’t really matter for what I’m trying to do,” he explained during the interview. He also mentioned the comparisons to both his father and his grandfather, John Bonham. “When people try to compare ‘Oh, why are you doing this? Why are you doing that?’ I’m like, ‘Because let it have its thing.’ It was such a beautiful time and it was such a moment, it was history. Why should I try to go and replicate something that I personally don’t have the capability for?”
Jager also pointed to AC/DC as a key influence. “I just wanna do something that makes me happy and maybe it was the one moment where I got to see AC/DC live and [it] clicked. I was like, ‘I don’t wanna be behind the kit, I wanna be out there dancing in the front.'”
In another interview last month, Jager talked about whether he was ever pressured to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather on the drums.
“I don’t think it was ever pressured. It was definitely something that was always around the house,” he told Leo Weekly. “There was a kit and it was something I enjoyed doing, but it was never something for me.”
He added, “I’ll steal the cool line I said in my last interview: I looked in front of me and I saw my dad’s shoes and my granddad’s shoes, and a lot of people decide to fill them or try to when it comes to their parents, and I kind of stepped over them, kept walking and I saw a pair of shoes with my name on them and I knew that was the path I was supposed to take. So it’s not that I didn’t want to, and it’s not that I don’t enjoy playing the drums, it’s just wasn’t what I truly loved.”
Jager is currently supporting Letdown. on their tour. After this short run, he will join his father’s band, JBLZE [Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening], for a few dates to wrap up the year
