Richard Cole

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Cole fundamentally changed the logistics of rock touring in the United States. Before his intervention, English bands typically rented equipment and hired local crews stateside. Cole insisted on bringing all gear and an entirely English crew over, stating, "I fucking reorganized that very sharply. I said 'Fuck that. Let's take our own equipment over there, wot we're used to working on'." This practice soon became standard for other bands. He also booked Led Zeppelin into iconic Los Angeles venues like the Chateau Marmont and the Continental Hyatt House (known as "The Riot House") starting in early 1969. Cole was instrumental in introducing groupies, some from his time with The Yardbirds and The Who, to the band members. He handled box office takings and receipts until a major incident in July 1973 at Madison Square Garden, where over US$203,000 vanished from a safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel. Though suspected due to holding the key, Cole took a lie detector test, was cleared, and no one was ever charged.

In Their Own Story

The Oakland Coliseum incident on 23 July 1977 marked a violent turning point. Manager Peter Grant approved hiring John Bindon as security co-ordinator, but tensions with promoter Bill Graham's staff boiled over. Bindon knocked stage crew chief Jim Downey unconscious after an altercation near the backstage ramp. Simultaneously, Graham's security man Jim Matzorkis was accused of slapping Grant's 11-year-old son, Warren, leading to a brutal brawl where Matzorkis was beaten. Although Led Zeppelin played their second Oakland show only after Graham signed a letter of indemnification, he refused to honor it upon the band's return to their hotel. Assault charges were filed against Grant, Cole, Bindon, and John Bonham; all four pleaded nolo contendere and received suspended sentences. Bindon was fired and returned to England, with Grant later calling the hiring "the biggest mistake he ever made as manager." Shortly after, in 1980, Cole was dismissed due to substance abuse concerns and replaced by Phil Carlo.

Reader's Guide

After Led Zeppelin disbanded in 1980, Cole faced intense scrutiny regarding his accounts of the band's history. He contributed to Stephen Davis' biography Hammer of the Gods, claiming he received only $1250 for revelations that formed a large part of the book. Robert Plant later dismissed these claims in a 1985 New Musical Express interview, suggesting they came from "girls who'd supposedly been in my room when in fact they'd been in his" and noting Cole was "permanently distorted." Cole co-authored Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored (1992) with Richard Trubo. Jimmy Page called the book "ridiculously false," stating he couldn't read it without suing, while John Paul Jones described it as a "mish-mash of several stories" and refused to speak to Cole again after reading about John Bonham's depiction. Despite this bitterness, Cole was invited to the Led Zeppelin reunion VIP section in 2007. Post-Zeppelin, he toured with artists including Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, and Gipsy Kings, dividing his time between Venice, California, and London until his death from cancer on 2 December 2021.

Did You Know?

• Cole claimed to have designed the shirts worn by John Lennon and Ringo Starr on the Revolver album cover, but this claim is not supported by any reliable source and is widely considered apocryphal.
• In 1980, while in Italy to detox from substance abuse, Cole was briefly held for questioning as a suspect in the Bologna railway station bombing on 2 August 1980, but was released and not formally imprisoned.
• During the 1973 Madison Square Garden theft of over $203,000, Cole was the first person at the scene to discover the money was missing.
• Cole took a lie detector test and was cleared of any involvement in the Drake Hotel safe deposit box theft, though the money was never recovered.
• Despite being fired for drug and alcohol issues in 1980, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones' bitterness toward him did not prevent his invitation to the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion.