If you’ve been hoping to hear the familiar and grounding sound of singer Robert Plant belting out Led Zeppelin’s famous "Stairway To Heaven" at any future live performances, you may be in for a letdown.
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Speaking with Rolling Stone about his performance of the song last October during a charity concert in the U.K., Plant admitted that may have been the final time the forests will echo with laughter. Plant joined The Cancer Platform charity show at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, England last year, organized by Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor, deciding at the last minute to give fans what they came for, marking the first time he sang the song live since Led Zeppelin’s 2007 Celebration Day reunion at London’s O2 Arena.
That performance, he says, “was cathartic,” explaining how “People go, 'Oh, that's good. He never was going to do that.' But I didn't really do it! I just blurted it out. 'Cause it's such an important song to me for where I was at the time and where I was with Jimmy [Page] and with John [Paul Jones] and Bonzo [John Bonham]. So on that night, it was what it was. It was a trial by fire, but I felt better at the end than at the beginning."
Plant continued, after being asked whether that was likely the final time he would perform the track, "Yeah, I think you're probably right. I haven't got around to doing the ice-skating rinks in Finland yet with a small orchestra. So, I don't think I'll be doing that, but I don't know. Who knows? Something could change somewhere. Spirit and heart could come back in the soul. It's a long song. Who can remember all those words?"
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As far as a full reunion with the surviving members, that's likely out of the cards as well. Robert Plant admitted in 2022 that he felt, "going back to the font to get some kind of massive applause," by performing full Led Zeppelin sets, "doesn’t really satisfy my need to be stimulated."