Led Zeppelin Sued Over “Stairway to Heaven”

If you’ve been alive at all in the last 50 years, chances are you’ve heard Led Zeppelin’s ultra-hit “Stairway to Heaven”. The track has basically been everywhere since its release in 1971. However, a new lawsuit may reveal there is more to the song than meets the eye.

Apparently, there exists a belief that the band lifted the opening meditative guitar licks from the Los Angeles band Spirit’s instrumental track, “Taurus”. We’ve included a video of the track below; check out the acoustic guitar around the 0:44 mark if you want to hear the most similar portion of the track. You do have to admit that while there are some differences, the guitar lines are quite similar.

To make matters worse, Led Zeppelin actually played a series of shows with Spirit during their first American tour, so the two parties were definitely acquainted. According to Spirit, the opening riff was actually written by the late Randy California, Spirit’s guitarist.

This isn’t the first time that the similarities between “Taurus” and “Stairway to Heaven” have been made; there have actually been a number of allegations by different music journalists and members of Spirit for years, this is just the first time it’ll be brought in front of jury. We’ll see how the integrity of one of the greatest rock sounds ever stands.