The lengthy legal suit over Led Zeppelin’s iconic track ‘Stairway to Heaven’ is finally over.
The legal suit was initially filed by Michael Skidmore back in 2014 on behalf Spirit guitarist and songwriter Randy Craig Wolfe. The suit challenged Zeppelin’s ownership of the track. Alleging that the band had appropriated the opening riff of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ from Spirit’s 1968 track ‘Taurus’ — a song released three years prior.
Lawyer’s for the Wolfe estate argued that Led Zeppelin came across the Spirit song after the bands shared a bill at a club in Birmingham in 1970 —one year prior to the release of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ The 2014 trial saw Spirit bassist Mark Andes claim that he met Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant at the gig, and played a game of snooker with him afterward.
Robert Plant claims to have no memory of the night, attributing it to head injuries he and his wife suffered following a car crash on his way home.
Led Zeppelin won the case in back 2016. Following the ruling, the case was revived and brought to the 9th circuit court of Appeals, which ruled in favour of Zeppelin once more. The case has now been declined by the US Supreme Court, the final nail in the coffin for the suit.
Check out ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin:
In other news, Led Zeppelin are set to reissue the Japanese version of ‘Immigrant Song’ in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin III. The track will arrive on January 15th, 2021 with preorder’s starting Thursday, October 8th, at 10 a.m. ET via the Zeppelin website.
