“Stairway to Heaven” is one of the greatest rock songs of all time, and we have Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to thank for it.
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Lead singer Plant and guitarist Page co-wrote the iconic track for Led Zeppelin’s fourth studio album, commonly referred to as Led Zeppelin IV. Though not officially released as a single, “Stairway” is easily one of the album’s standouts with its three-tiered structure that the band would often play for more than 10 minutes during their live shows.
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Born in England in 1948, Plant briefly pursued a career in accounting before setting his sights on his true passion: music. Influenced by artists ranging from Elvis Presley to blues greats like Bukka White and Jerry Miller, Plant was playing in local clubs when he met Page in 1968 and auditioned for the lead singer of a new band Page was putting together, Page essentially hiring him on the spot.
“When I auditioned him and heard him sing, I immediately thought there must be something wrong with him personality-wise or that he had to be impossible to work with because I just could not understand why, after he told me he’d been singing for a few years already, he hadn’t become a big name yet,” Page explains in Dave Schulps’ book, Jimmy Page: Paging the Yardbirds. “So I had him down to my place for a little while, just to sort of check him out, and we got along great. No problems.” This led to the formation of Led Zeppelin, which quickly established itself as a forerunner of heavy metal music with their self-titled debut album in 1969.
Known as a prolific guitarist, Page started his career as a session musician, playing guitar on songs by The Who and the Kinks, including the latter band’s debut album and The Who’s debut single, “I Can’t Explain.” The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and Brenda Lee are among the vast-ranging other artists Page was a session musician for.
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During their 12-year tenure as part of Led Zeppelin, Plant and Page released eight studio albums and were the band’s principal songwriters, co-writing such hits as “Whole Lotta Love,” “Immigrant Song,” “Fool in the Rain” and others. After the band disbanded in 1980, Page and Plant remained creative cohorts when they formed a new band, The Honeydrippers, that also included Jeff Beck. The pair then spent the mid-1990s operating as the band Page and Plant from 1994 to 1998, releasing two albums during the time span, alongside the live album, No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded. They also embarked on a tour in 1995.
Over the decades, Plant has also sustained a solo career, releasing 11 studio albums and recording such hits as “Rockin’ at Midnight,” “Other Arms,” “Burning Down One Side,” “Pledge Pin” and several others.
Led Zeppelin was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
