Robert Plant performs ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for first time in 16 years
Robert Plant, the legendary former frontman of Led Zeppelin, performed the band’s classic 1971 song ‘Stairway to Heaven’ during a charity concert in Oxfordshire on October 21st.
The performance formed part of a special concert arranged by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, who is currently receiving treatment for stage four colon cancer. All proceeds are to be donated to the Cancer Awareness Trust.
Plant’s set also included Led Zeppelin classics ‘Thank You’ and ‘Black Dog’, as well as a cover of Donovan’s ‘Season of the Witch’. The undeniable highlight, however, was Plant’s return to a fan favourite he’s admitted to feeling somewhat estranged from in recent years.
“I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show,” Plant previously told the Los Angeles Times in 1988 of ‘Stairway to Heaven’. This opinion hasn’t changed much since, either. Plant later labelled it “that bloody wedding song” and even donated $1,000 to a radio show benefit when the host said they would never play the song again if they reached their donation target.
“Bet I enjoyed that more than him,” Taylor joked as their performance rang out. “I know that in this contemporary age of digital stuff, there’s every likelihood that other people will see that,” Plant responded. He then dedicated the song to Taylor, the Cancer Awareness Trust and Led Zeppelin, “wherever they are.”
Despite his criticism of the Led Zeppelin hit, Plant recognised the “incredible” construction of the song in 2019. “The way that Jimmy [Page] took the music through, and the way that the drums reached almost climaxed and then continued,” he said during a radio appearance. “It’s a very beautiful piece. But lyrically, now, and even vocally, I go, ‘I’m not sure about that.’”
Watch a clip from his performance of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ below.
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