Stairway To Heaven - Other Versions

Other Versions

The song has been covered a number of times. Rolf Harris's didgeridoo-and-wobble board interpretation reached number seven in the UK charts in 1993. His version was one of 26 different versions of the song that were performed live by guest stars on the early 1990s Australian chat show The Money or the Gun - each being a unique version of the song in the usually idiosyncratic style of performance of each guest star. A video and CD album were released featuring 25 and 22 of the performances, respectively.

Dolly Parton released a stripped down acoustic cover of the song in 2002; Plant spoke highly of Parton's version, noting that he was pleasantly surprised with how her version turned out.

In 1977, Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded a parody of the song in which the words to the theme song of the television show Gilligan's Island were sung in place of the original lyrics. Within five weeks, Led Zeppelin's lawyers threatened to sue them and demanded that any remaining copies of the recording be destroyed. However, during a 2005 interview on National Public Radio, Plant referred to the tune as his favourite cover of "Stairway to Heaven."

The sketch comedy series SCTV had an elaborate spoof of the song with its spoof album Stairways to Heaven. In the mock album, advertised in the style of K-tel, various snippets of cover versions are featured, supposedly from artists ranging from Slim Whitman to the faux-50s group "The Five Neat Guys," as well as the original version (albeit advertised to be a sound-alike sung by Rich Little). This sketch, due to rights issues, was not released on the DVDs for the show.

A version by Far Corporation was released in 1985 and reached number 8 in the UK singles chart.

Frank Zappa created an arrangement of the song as one of the centrepieces of his 1988 tour. The arrangement, as heard on the album The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life, features the horn section of Zappa's band playing Jimmy Page's guitar solo.

Australian physicist and composer Joe Wolfe composed a set of variations on "Stairway to Heaven." This work, The Stairway Suite, is composed for orchestra, big band, chorus, and SATB. Each variation is in the style of a famous composer: Franz Schubert, Gustav Holst, Glenn Miller, Gustav Mahler, Georges Bizet, and Ludwig van Beethoven. For example, the Schubert inspired variation is based on the Unfinished Symphony, and the Beethoven inspired variation includes vocal soloists and chorus and resembles Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Wolfe posted the full score of this piece on the Internet.

In the movie Wayne's World, Wayne (played by Mike Myers) takes a guitar and plays several notes of the song in the original theatrical release. In the scene, Wayne is almost immediately stopped by a store employee who points to a "No Stairway" sign. This referenced the fact that so many people have attempted the song on guitar while at music stores in the UK, employees became sick of hearing it and banned patrons from playing "Stairway," threatening them with fines or removal. In the video releases and television airings of the movie, however, the notes are changed to a generic guitar riff due to licensing restrictions imposed by the band.

Heart performed a cover of the song at least once in 1976; the 2004 reissue of the band's album Little Queen includes a recording as a bonus track.

In 2010, Mary J. Blige released a version on her album Stronger with Each Tear featuring Travis Barker on drums, Steve Vai and Orianthi on guitar, Randy Jackson on bass and Geffen Records chair Ron Fair on piano. Blige performed the song on American Idol with Barker, Vai, Orianthi, and Jackson; the recording was released via download for charity.