(Credits: julio zeppelin)
Robert Plant’s uncomfortable relationship with Led Zeppelin‘s classic track ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is public knowledge. While he’s thankful for the impact the song has had on his life and the career of his former band, Plant has outgrown ‘Stairway to Heaven’.
Although Plant did play the track once in 2023, it was at a charitable concert arranged by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Awareness Trust. Furthermore, the only reason why he made an exception and included ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in his setlist was because a donor had offered a six-figure sum to the charitable organisation if he performed the track.
However, unless another fan is willing to match that sizeable donation, it’s unlikely Plant will ever air ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in public again. While the frontman has been making disparaging remarks about the song for several decades, he can still enjoy it, but only if somebody else sings.
A key reason Plant no longer performs ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is down to the evolution of his voice, which doesn’t do the song justice like it once did. This practice is standard for any artist of a certain age, but rather than create new compositions to suit his vocals like Bob Dylan, he laid the track to rest.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Plant admitted: “I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show”.
In 2019, he told UCR that he believes ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is a “very good” musical construction, but added: “Lyrically, now, I can’t relate to it because it was so long ago. I would have no intention ever to write along those abstract lines any more”.
During a tribute concert for Led Zeppelin at the Kennedy Center in 2012, Heart stunned Plant with their take on ‘Stairway to Heaven’, which featured John Bonham on drums. As he wasn’t the one singing on stage, the former Led Zeppelin frontman could enjoy the track at face value, reigniting a love for the song.
He recalled to Vulture: “It was a spectacular performance. I’m now a voyeur. I’m not responsible for it anymore. I’m not in guitar shops being told not to do it. I’m not going down the aisle at a wedding playing it with a flute. I love the song. It came upon me and stripped away all the years of being a part of all that. It just rubbed it right back to the bone.”
Plant continued: “Because maybe it was all over for us a long time before it was all over. It was definitely all over without John. I mean that. We’re talking here about one song from 50-plus years ago. It’s just a magnificent performance to watch, and it kills me every time. It kills me in two or three different ways. It’s just like, Oh my God.”
Watch Heart’s cover of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ below.