Heart’s Stunning Performance of Stairway To Heaven Must Be Heard

Heart’s performance of “Stairway To Heaven,” by Led Zeppelin stands as one of the greatest live interpretations of Led Zeppelin’s classic song ever performed. It is fitting that the performance of the song was done in front of the three remaining members of Led Zeppelin. How difficult it must have been for the members of Heart to perform the classic Led Zeppelin song in front of Led Zeppelin themselves. The band and especially Ann Wilson rose to the occasion.

The Kennedy Center Honors Award has been defined by the center as “The quintessential reward for a lifetime’s endeavor.” In 2012, the center awarded Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones the prestigious award. As the ceremony came to a close, the band Heart took the stage to perform Led Zeppelin’s iconic composition Stairway To Heaven. As Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones watched from the balcony, Heart delivered a performance for the ages.

Perhaps the only vocalist in rock history that could match Robert Plant’s legendary vocal performance from “Stairway to Heaven,” Ann Wilson nailed the vocals leaving Robert Plant with tears in his eyes. The drama that unfolded that night belonged to the visuals the nation saw of the former members of Led Zeppelin reacting to Heart’s tremendous performance. The joy and pride on the face of Jimmy Page was matched by the sentimental response that Robert Plant had seemed so hard to try to disguise. The cameras also caught President Obama swaying to the music with the First Lady by his side.

Heart’s performance of “Stairway to Heaven,” was supported by the vocals of the Joyce Garret Youth Choir. The Choirs vocal performance at the end of the song along with Heart’s amazing band brought the crowd to their feet. It can easily be argued that it was the greatest performance of the song “Stairway to Heaven,” by a band other than Led Zeppelin themselves.

The Kennedy Center first began giving out awards in 1978. The first awards that year were given to Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers, and Arthur Rubinstein. The awards are given out annually to artists who have made significant artistic contributions to American society. The artists are celebrated with an entire weekend of ceremonies that end with a White House luncheon and the gala performance.

Led Zeppelin’s masterpiece entitled “Stairway To Heaven,” was first released on the band’s untitled fourth album ofter referred to as Led Zeppelin IV. The album was released in November of 1971. The song blended many styles of music from its soft acoustic guitar intro to its loud furious electric ending. It is regarded as one of a handful of the greatest rock songs ever released.

Kennedy Center Honors Site

Heart’s Stunning Performance of Stairway To Heaven Must Be Heardarticle published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022

Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business, or organization is allowed to re-publish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission. All photos used are either public domain creative commons photos or licensed officially from Shutterstock under license with ClassicRockHistory.com. All photo credits have been placed at the end of the article.