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

The former Led Zeppelin bandleader played the track during a benefit concert spearheaded by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor

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.

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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

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.

Led Zeppelin Announce First Authorized Documentary in Honor of the Band’s 50th Anniversary
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.

“When I hear it in isolation, I feel overwhelmed for every single reason you could imagine. There was a mood and an air of trying to make it through. The world is a different place. Everybody was reeling from Vietnam and the usual extra helping of corruption with politics,” he told the publication.

Plant continued: “There were people who were really eloquent who brought it home far less pictorially and did a much better job of reaching that point. But I am what I am, and as my grandfather said, ‘I can’t be more ‘am’-erer.’”

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Robert Plant toured with Alison Krauss for their Raise the Roof tour once again this year.

The classic rocker revealed they would be heading back out on the road during 2024 via X (formerly Twitter), though those dates have not yet been revealed.
Plant is set to perform with Saving Grace on Nov. 1 in Brighton, England and Guildford, UK on Nov. 2. He’ll also play at an 80th birthday concert for Bert Jansch in London, England on Nov. 4.