He died on September 24, 1980 at Jimmy Page's home. He had consumed an uncountable number of drinks and had been taking a drug to keep him off of heroin, and when he was laid down to sleep, his face was up instead of down, which caused him to choke on his own vomit.

John Bonham had consumed 40 shots of hard liquor when he was found dead.

On September 24, 1980, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King from The Old Hyde to be at rehearsals at Bray Studios for the upcoming tour of the United States, the band's first since 1977. During the journey Bonham had asked to stop for breakfast, where he downed four quadruple vodkas (roughly sixteen shots (~8dl) of vodka), with a ham roll. After taking a bite of the ham roll he said to his assistant 'Breakfast.' He then continued to drink when he arrived at the studio. A halt was called to the rehearsals late in the evening and the band retired to Page's house — The Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight, Bonham had fallen asleep and was taken to bed on his side. It was rumored that he had a total of forty shots that night. Tour Manager (replacing Richard Cole, who was taking a break from tour managing to control his drug habits) Benji LeFevre and John Paul Jones found him dead the next morning. Bonham was just 32. The cause of death was asphyxiation caused by choking on his own vomit. A subsequent coroner inquest found no other drugs in Bonham's body. John Bonham was cremated and a funeral was held on October 10th, 1980 at Rushock, Worcestershire parish church near The Old Hyde farm. A picture of his gravestone can be seen above. The stone reads,: "Cherished memories of a loving husband and father,: John Henry Bonham: Who died Sept. 25th 1980.: He will always be remembered in our hearts,: Goodnight my Love, God Bless." Despite rumours that Cozy Powell, Carmine Appice, Simon Kirke, or Bev Bevan would join the group as his replacement, the remaining members disbanded Led Zeppelin after Bonham's death. They issued a statement, once and for all clarifying that the band would not continue without its irreplaceable drummer...."We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were". http://tinyurl.com/ytx8ow

"On 5 September 1980, Swan Song (Zeppelin's music company) announced a US tour for October. Tickets sold like wildfire and expectations were high. But it was not to be. Ten days after the announcement of the North American tour dates, the band members gathered at Jimmy Page's new mansion on the banks of the River Thames near Windsor for rehearsals. On 24 September, Bonham (or Bonzo as the band members called him) was chauffered to Page's. He had reportedly quit doing heroin, but was taking an anti-anxiety medication called Motival. En route, he stopped at a pub and downed four quadruple vodkas. During the rehearsal, his drinking continued though this was not unusual for Bonham. Around midnight, he passed out on a sofa and was helped to a bedroom by Page's assistant, Rick Hobbs. Hobbs left Bonham lying on his side, propped up with pillows, and turned out the lights. When Bonzo hadn't appeared by the next afternoon, Robert Plant's assistant, Benji LeFevre, went in to wake him and found him apparently dead. The ambulance was called but John Bonham, aged 32, had died several hours earlier and was far beyond resuscitation. Weeks later at the coroner's inquest, it emerged that in the 24 hours before he died, John Bonham had drunk forty measures of vodka which resulted in pulmonary edema - waterlogging of the lungs caused by inhalation of vomit. The death was ruled accidental. Bonham was buried on October 10, 1980 at Rushock parish churchyard, near The Old Hyde farm." Source: http://www.leninimports.com/john_bonham.html