Heart’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Gives Led Zeppelin a Personal Tribute

Led Zeppelin were among the artists celebrated at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. Heart chose ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for the tribute, taking on one of the band’s most familiar songs with the surviving members in the room.

Nancy Wilson’s guitar establishes a quiet opening, giving Ann Wilson room to bring the words into focus. The arrangement takes its time before opening out.

Jason Bonham joined the performance on drums. Having John Bonham’s son onstage made the tribute personal in a way the audience could hear and see.

The choir’s bowler hats carried a second reference to the late drummer. A detail associated with one musician became a shared gesture across the ensemble.

More voices and instruments enter as the familiar melody grows. The staging gives the final surge its impact by holding so much back early on.

Watch the performance

Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were in the audience. The camera cuts to their reactions, including tears, as the performance reaches its fuller sections.

Ann and Nancy Wilson keep the song recognizable while shaping it around their own strengths. The patient opening is as much a part of the interpretation as the large finish.

When the choir comes into view together, the hats reinforce the sense that the tribute has been assembled with specific people in mind. The visual and musical entrances arrive as part of the same build.

Jason Bonham’s playing brings another layer to the crescendo. His place behind the drums ties the sound of this arrangement to the band the evening was honoring.

The Kennedy Center setting allows the performance to work as a direct exchange between artists. The people being honored are visible as the music reaches them.

The recording went on to reach more than 230 million views on YouTube. For many viewers, it has become a familiar place to return to the song outside the original Led Zeppelin recording.

Listen to how far the arrangement travels from the first guitar notes. Much of the effect comes from the number of textures the musicians add without losing sight of the melody.

Clips of the audience reactions often bring people to the video. In the full recording, the sequence of quiet and louder passages explains why those moments arrive where they do.

Heart, Bonham and the choir each have a distinct place in the sound. The final passages work because the performance has given each part time to register.

The tribute also provides a way into the song for a listener encountering it for the first time. The opening is clear enough to follow, and the added voices carry it to a finish specific to this occasion.

Two more performances to explore

Heart Covers Led Zeppelin's “Going to California” Live on the Stern Show

Heart takes on another Led Zeppelin song, ‘Going to California,’ on the Stern Show. The recording offers a different setting in which to hear the band’s connection to that repertoire.

Heart – Barracuda (Live)

‘Barracuda’ brings the attention back to Heart’s own catalog. The live performance gives their guitar and vocal sound a sharper, quicker frame.