the most famous rock song of all time, this never charted because it was never released as a single to the general public. radio stations received More

the most famous rock song of all time, this never charted because it was never released as a single to the general public. radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector's items.in the movie wayne's world, it is banned in the guitar shop where wayne starts playing it. in the movie, wayne clearly plays the first few notes before being scolded, but due to legal issues, the video version was changed so wayne plays something incomprehensible. on an episode of south park, the character towelie tries to play this in a talent show and screws it up. this is falsely rumored to contain backward satanic messages, as if led zeppelin sold their souls to the devil in exchange for "stairway to heaven." supporting this untrue theory was the fact that jimmy page bought aleister crowley's house in scotland, which had become a well known satanic church and was known as "the toolhouse." in his books, crowley advocated that his followers learn to read and speak backwards. this runs 8:03. it has also sold more sheet music than any other rock song (10,000 to 15,000 copies a year, and more than one million total. robert and jimmy wrote this in an old mansion called headley grange in liphook road, headley, hampshire, where led zeppelin-with john bonham and john paul jones-recorded most of their 4th album. it was a huge, old, dusty mansion with no electricity but great acoustics according to eddie kramer their recording engineer. one night, in front of a roaring fire, page strummed the chords to this for robert. plant wrote 90% of the lyrics right there in front of the fire. he has said in many interviews that he didn't seem to be writing, that something else was moving his pencil for him. plant is a great admirer of all things mystic, the old english legends and lore and the writings of the celts. he was immersed in the lord of the rings around this time and many of his lyrics reflect that. dolly parton covered this on her 2002 album halos and horns. plant liked her version. other artists to cover this include u2, jimmy castor, frank zappa, the foo fighters, the dave matthews band, sisters of mercy, nancy wilson, zakk wylde, elkie brooks, pardon me boys, white flag, jana, great white, stanley jordan, far corporation, dixie power trio, justin hayward, leningrad cowboys, dread zeppelin, tiny tim, piano virtuoso richard abel, and monte montgomery. neil sedaka had an unrelated top-10 hit with the same title in 1960. gordon roy of wishaw, scotland has all of the lyrics to this tattooed on his back as a tribute to a friend who died in a car accident.this was the last song the remaining members of led zeppelin performed when they reunited for live aid in 1985. unlike the who, geldof had an easy time convincing plant, page, and jones to play the show. they played the philadelphia stage with tony thompson and phil collins sitting in on drums.the acoustic intro was borrowed from the song "taurus" from the band spirit, who toured with led zeppelin when they first played the us. the band spirit has acknowledged this, and is okay with it. former gospel singer pat boone covered it for his album in a metal mood. another notable cover was by an australian performer called rolf harris.in the '90s, australian tv host andrew denton had a show on which various artists were asked to perform their version of this song. their versions were released on an album called the money or the gun: stairways to heaven. artists performing it included australian doors show, the beatnix, kate ceberano and the ministry of fun, robyne dunn, etcetera theatre company, the fargone beauties, sandra hahn and michael turkic, rolf harris, pardon me boys, neil pepper, the rock lobsters, leonard teale, toys went berserk, vegimite reggae, the whipper snappers, and john paul young. in reply to rolf harris' version, page and plant performed his song "sun arise" at the end of another denton tv show.the members of led zeppelin were great fans of j.r.r. tolkien's lord of the rings series - as many as 5 of their songs have direct references to tolkien's literary masterpiece - the most evident song being "ramble on." the phrase, "in my thoughts i have seen rings of smoke through the trees" could be a reference to the smoke rings blown by the wizard gandalf. some say the song itself was inspired by the novel - and that the lady spoken of in the tale is lady galadriel, the queen of elves who lives in the golden forest of lothlorien. in the book, all that glittered around her, was in fact, gold, as the leaves of the trees in the forest of lothlorien were golden.http://www.myspace.com/jamesgraffjames graff (aka graffjamie or jamie or me) - after many requests - gives in and attempts to sing and play "stairway to heaven" by led zeppelin at supersports lounge in margate, florida, usa.
Hide

Tasty slow-motion footage and an amazing mashup featuring Dolly Parton singing Stairway to Heaven. Footage includes highlites from the 2005 Concrete More

Tasty slow-motion footage and an amazing mashup featuring Dolly Parton singing Stairway to Heaven. Footage includes highlites from the 2005 Concrete Rodeo in Reedsport, and locals hangin out in Waldport. Music by DJ Earworm
Hide