Robert Plant delivered a uncommon efficiency of the traditional Led Zeppelin tune “Stairway to Heaven” throughout a charity profit in Oxfordshire, England on Saturday evening.
Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, who’s battling stage 4 colon most cancers, organized the occasion, with proceeds benefiting the Most cancers Consciousness Belief.
Plant’s efficiency included renditions of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” and “Black Canine,” in addition to Donovan’s “Season of the Witch.” Nonetheless, it was the sudden rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” that was the unquestioned spotlight of his look. Backed by Taylor and lots of the evening’s performers, Plant tore by way of the 1971 traditional, a lot to the delight of the gang in attendance. Based on Setlist.fm, the final identified time that Plant carried out “Stairway to Heaven” was at Led Zeppelin’s 2007 reunion.
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“Guess I loved that greater than him,” Taylor joked on the finish of the tune, alluding to Plant’s uneasy historical past with the observe.
“I do know that on this modern age of digital stuff, there’s each chance that different individuals will see that,” Plant then quipped, earlier than explaining that his rendition was devoted to Taylor, the Most cancers Consciousness Belief and Led Zeppelin, “wherever they’re.”
Watch Plant’s efficiency of “Stairway to Heaven” starting at 55:30 within the video beneath.
Robert Plant’s Difficult Historical past With ‘Stairway to Heaven’
Regardless of being some of the beloved songs in rock historical past, “Stairway to Heaven” has by no means been certainly one of Plant’s favourite Led Zeppelin tracks. In truth, the singer has typically expressed dissatisfaction with the tune.
Famously, Plant admitted to Nancy Wilson that he’d come to hate the long-lasting tune, however modified his perspective after watching Coronary heart carry out “Stairway to Heaven” on the 2012 Kennedy Heart Honors.
READ MORE: All 92 Led Zeppelin Songs Ranked Worst to Finest
In 2019, Plant expressed respect for the “unimaginable” building of the tune. “The best way that Jimmy [Page] took the music by way of, and the best way that the drums reached virtually climaxed after which continued.” Nonetheless, he wasn’t so flattering concerning his personal contributions. “It’s a really stunning piece. However lyrically, now, and even vocally, I’m going, ‘I’m unsure about that.’”
In a more moderen interview, Plant admitted to feeling “estranged” from “Stairway to Heaven.” “I’m now a voyeur. I’m not chargeable for it anymore,” the singer famous. “I’m not in guitar retailers being instructed to not do it. I’m not taking place the aisle at a marriage taking part in it with a flute.”
Led Zeppelin Albums Ranked
Counting down each canonical Led Zeppelin album, from worst (comparatively talking, in fact) to greatest.
Gallery Credit score: Nick DeRiso
