September 2020 marks the milestone anniversaries of the deaths of two legendary rock musicians, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who passed away 50 and 40 years ago this month, respectively.

To commemorate these sad losses and celebrate the two artists’ lives and influential careers, a pair of new books focusing on them, both put together by veteran rock author and journalist Greg Prato, have just been published.

The first book, Avatar of the Electric Guitar: The Genius of Jimi Hendrix, features interviews with a variety of respected musicians, including Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett, Rush‘s Alex Lifeson, Thin Lizzy‘s Scott Gorham, Steve Vai and Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil, who discuss what made Hendrix such a special artist.

Hendrix was just 27 when he died on September 18, 1970.

The second book, titled Bonzo: 30 Rock Drummers Remember the Legendary John Bonham, similarly features interviews with various well-known beat-keepers explaining why the feel Bonham’s musical contributions were so significant. Among the many drummers whose commentary appears in the book are longtime John Fogerty touring drummer Kenny Aronoff, Marky Ramone, original Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, ex-Dream Theater member Mike Portnoy and System of a Down‘s John Dolmayan.

Bonham passed away at the age of 32 on September 25, 1980.

Both books are available now, in paperback and for Kindle devices, at Amazon.com. You can check out excerpts from the books at SongFacts.com.

Prato previously has written or compiled books about late AC/DC singer Bon Scott, KISS, Queen, late Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin, Iron Maiden and many other popular rock acts.

By Matt Friedlander
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