Robert Plant Performs Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Live for First Time in 16 Years

Robert Plant made history this past weekend.

On Saturday, the former Led Zeppelin bandleader, 75, brushed off one of the band’s most famous songs live for the first time in 16 years — “Stairway to Heaven.”

In fan-captured footage, Plant performed a slow-burning rendition of the 1971 power ballad during a charity concert for The Cancer Platform at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, organized by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor. (Taylor, 62, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2018.)

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The “Burning Down One Side” performer hadn’t performed the track since Dec. 10, 2007 when the surviving Led Zeppelin band members — Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones — teamed up for a one-off reunion show in London.

Charlie Jones, John Paul Jones (seated), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on July 13, 1985
Charlie Jones, John Paul Jones (seated), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin in July 1985. RON GALELLA/RON GALELLA COLLECTION VIA GETTY
Over the years, the rocker has included Led Zeppelin classics like “Black Dog,” “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” “Ramble On” and “Whole Lotta Love” in his live gigs, however he hasn’t resurfaced “Stairway to Heaven.”
In fact, Plant has shared somewhat conflicting feelings about the track during interviews throughout the years.

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In 1988, he told The Los Angeles Times he would “definitely not” sing “Stairway to Heaven” on tour.

“I’d break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show. I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don’t know. It’s just not for me,” he told the outlet.

Last year, the musician once again addressed how he felt about the song in an interview with Rolling Stone.