Led Zepplin’s singer Robert Plant says he may have sung “Stairway to Heaven” for the last time. While he doesn’t know what the future holds, Plant isn’t keen on future ballads.
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Last October, Plant sang “Stairway to Heaven” during a charity concert for The Cancer Platform. It was the first time that Plant had sung the tune in almost two decades. His previous performance of the tune occurred all the way back in 2007.
Plant said the moment was important to him. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Plant detailed his thoughts in the moment.
“It was cathartic. People go, ‘Oh, that’s good. He never was going to do that.’ But I didn’t really do it! I just blurted it out. ‘Cause it’s such an important song to me for where I was at the time and where I was with Jimmy [Page] and with John [Paul Jones] and Bonzo [John Bonham]. So on that night, it was what it was. It was a trial by fire, but I felt better at the end than at the beginning.”
However, he doesn’t intend on an encore performance. When questioned if this was the last time for the song, Plant considered it to be probably true.
He continued, “Yeah, I think you’re probably right. I haven’t got around to doing the ice-skating rinks in Finland yet with a small orchestra. [Laughs] So I don’t think I’ll be doing that, but I don’t know. Who knows? Something could change somewhere. Spirit and heart could come back in the soul. It’s a long song. Who can remember all those words?”
Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin Classic
According to guitarist Kenwyn House, Plant only agreed to play the tune after someone donated a large sum of money to the charity to hear Plant play it, according to Led Zeppelin News.
“Someone bid a huge amount of money for him to sing this song,” House said. “There is a good circle of karma around it. That raised a six-figure sum for the charity, that one song.”
Plant previously detailed his reluctance to play the Led Zeppelin track again. Although he thinks the song has stood the test of time, Plant struggles to relate to the emotion of the song.
“Of course, it was a good song,” he said. “The construction of the song, the actual musical construction is very, very good. It’s one of those moments that really can stand without a vocal — and, in fact, it will stand again without a vocal, I’m sure, because it’s a fine, fine piece of music.”
He continued, “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 anymore. I look at it and I tip my hat to it, and I think there are parts of it that are incredible. The way that Jimmy [Page] took the music through, and the way that the drums reached almost climaxed and then continued… It’s a very beautiful piece. But lyrically, now, and even vocally, I go, ‘I’m not sure about that.'”
