On 24 September 1980, Bonham was picked up by Led Zeppelin assistant Rex King to attend rehearsals at Bray Studios for a tour of North America, to begin 17 October in Montreal, Quebec – the band's first since 1977. During the journey, Bonham asked to stop for breakfast, where he drank four quadruple vodka Screwdrivers (16 shots between 400–560 ml, also equivalent to 9-13 American standard drinks). He then continued to drink heavily after arriving at rehearsals. The band stopped rehearsing late in the evening and then went to Page's house, the Old Mill House in Clewer, Windsor. After midnight on Thursday, 25 September, Bonham fell asleep; someone took him to bed and placed him on his side. Led Zeppelin tour manager Benji LeFevre and John Paul Jones found him unresponsive the next afternoon.[15] Bonham was later pronounced dead at 32 years old.

The inquest on 27 October 1980 showed that in 24 hours, Bonham had consumed around 40 shots (1–1.4 litres) of 40% ABV vodka, after which he vomited and choked. The finding was accidental death.[15] An autopsy found no other recreational drugs in Bonham's body, in keeping with his recent abstention from heroin, which he had used intermittently for several years; although he had recently begun to take Motival (a cocktail of the antipsychotic fluphenazine and the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline) to combat his anxiety, it is unclear if these substances interacted with the alcohol in his system.[16][17] Bonham's remains were cremated and his ashes interred on 12 October 1980, at Rushock parish church, Worcestershire