Robert Plant. Photo by Man Alive!/Flickr
Last Saturday (October 21), Robert Plant — the former lead singer for Led Zeppelin — surprised longtime fans by playing his 1971 classic, "Stairway to Heaven." It was the first time the singer had performed the song in 16 years. Watch the video below.
In 2019, Plant gave an interesting retrospective of "Stairway to Heaven" on Uncle Joe Benson's Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show. "Of course it was a good song," he said. But, "lyrically, now, I can't relate to it, because it was so long ago." He added that he had "no intention ever to write along those abstract lines anymore."
The last time Plant sang the song was 2007 when Led Zeppelin got together for the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at London's O2 Arena. Following the show, the band had a high public demand to go on tour again. Guitarist and founder Jimmy Page as well as keyboardist and bassist John Paul Jones both expressed interest in touring together again; however, Plant was strongly against it.
On his website the following year, Plant made a statement saying, "I will not be touring with Led Zeppelin or anyone else for the next two years. Anyone buying Led Zeppelin tickets will be buying bogus tickets."
