Robert Plant went to extreme lengths to avoid hearing Led Zeppelin’s hit Stairway To Heaven, including pledging money to a radio station to stop playing it!
The band’s legendary frontman first revealed this in an interview with NPR back in 2002, before later regaling it to Atlantic Records’ President, Ahmet Ertegun years later.
Understandably, considering Led Zeppelin were signed to Atlantic Records at the time, it is fair to say Mr Ertegun was less than amused.
“I was in Portland, Oregon”, Plant said back in 2002.
“I was driving along in my car, heading for Lincoln City, which is out on the coast. I wanted to drive down to Eureka. And just before the black-and-white [the highway patrol] caught me doing 90mph, [I was listening to] KBOO. It had this amazing music – it was kind of a mixture of sad outtakes of doo-wop and a very droll DJ, who sounded like somebody from Marin County in 1967”.
Plant Says He Was “one of the KBOO sponsors”
Elaborating further, Robert Plant revealed that he would donate $10 or $15 to KBOO in exchange for refraining from playing the classic 1971 Led Zeppelin track.
“The guy came on saying they were looking for sponsorships. You know, ‘Please send in $10’ or $15 or whatever, and if people in the area did that, KBOO would promise never to play Stairway to Heaven. So I called him up and pledged my money. I was one of the KBOO sponsors”, he said.
According to the current list of sponsors, it appears that Plant is no long a sponsor.
Despite claiming not to be a fan of the track, Robert Plant did deliver a rare performance of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ last October.
The singer was performing at a charity night “An Evening With Andy Taylor And Special Guests” at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, England.
You can also check out this performance and Nova’s report here.
This also comes following confirmation that the long awaited Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming A Led Zeppelin is to make its debut on the big screen at a cinema near you.
More on this from Nova here.
