Calling it a day

On this day in 1980, Led Zeppelin announced their breakup to the world.

John Bonham had died unexpectedly on Sept. 25, bringing a halt to plans for a Led Zeppelin tour in the United States and, in fact, to anything else related to the band.

And that's what the statement issued by the band's Swan Song label tried to get across in only 48 words. It read:

"We wish it to be known that the loss of our dear friend and the deep respect we have for his family, together with the sense of undivided harmony felt by ourselves and our manager, have led us to decide that we could not continue as we were."

Reacting to the statement, the world speculated on those words "as we were." Did the statement provide enough wiggle room to make it possible for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones to replace John Bonham with another drummer and continue in some manner other than as they were? Candidates for the position were hyped in magazines and touted to manager Peter Grant to the point that he no longer wanted to pick up his phone. The survivors ultimately resisted every temptation to revive the name of Led Zeppelin for a tour.

Fifteen years to the day of Led Zeppelin's breakup announcement was Grant's burial, in 1995.