We had another couple of run-throughs and then he walks over and he starts singing along. Wilson makes another key point about the song, and its lyrical and musical appeal — that before Stairway, Zeppelin were perceived almost exclusively as a band for men. But when Zep IV came out, it just really spoke to me, and they opened themselves up to everybody. Prior to Zeppelin IV, I was just barely getting into rock bands. I was still the only woman in the band, and the one chosen to sing the ballads and stand around and bang a tambourine.
Certainly, playing it live presented problems for Zeppelin. That seemed to make the most sense. He says crowds responded quickly to the song.
And what were you gonna follow it with? All still have plenty of admirers, but only Stairway is known to everyone who listens to rock music. Stairway, like many other Zeppelin songs, has become mired in controversy amid accusations of plagiarism. These days Ann Wilson — who played the song in front of President Barack Obama with her sister Nancy at a Kennedy Center gala to honour Led Zeppelin in — envies those getting to hear Stairway for the first time.
Stairway to Heaven: the story of a song and its legacy. By its 20th anniversary in , the song had been spun more than 2,, times. Zeppelin debuted the song on March 5, , during a concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
That adds up to a lot of Page wannabees fumbling through the finger picking at guitar shops. No wonder the song has been unofficially barred from being played in music stores worldwide.
One night, while driving along the Oregon coast after a solo performance in Portland, Plant came across a radio station playing really cool non-mainstream music.
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