Ann Wilson Recalls Performing Stairway to Heaven for Led Zeppelin

Ann Wilson Recalls the High Stakes of Playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for Led Zeppelin

Covering Led Zeppelin is a proposition fraught with peril, a reality Ann Wilson understood intimately when she and her sister Nancy prepared to perform “Stairway to Heaven” at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. The performance, executed alongside drummer Jason Bonham, required the Wilson sisters to face a moment of nerves just moments before walking out.

Recalling the event in a new interview with Guitar World tied to the upcoming biographical documentary In My Voice—slated for release in November—Ann Wilson noted that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant do not suffer poor interpretations lightly. Ann Wilson noted that Led Zeppelin usually didn’t think highly of covers, but they made an exception for their performance.

“Nancy and I played ‘Stairway To Heaven’ for the Led Zeppelin tribute [at the Kennedy Center in 2012] and after the show, they sat us all down and gave us, y’know, a rubber chicken dinner,” Ann Wilson told Guitar World. “We met Page and Plant, and they were very happy and said they really liked our performance. That was a big deal because so many bands have tried to cover Zeppelin, and they don’t enjoy being covered by people that don’t feel it.”

Overcoming Nerves for a Landmark Rock Moment

In 2021, Nancy Wilson described the physical toll the moment took, recalling that her hands froze “like icicles” before they were rushed into a rehearsal room.

Heart's Ann Wilson on Playing 'Stairway to Heaven' in Front of Led Zeppelin — Photo: europesays.com

And we just decided not to,” Ann Wilson recounted.

The 2012 tribute highlighted the deep musical lineage the Wilson sisters shared with their primary influences. Ann Wilson pointed specifically to Page’s unconventional approach to composition, noting in her Guitar World interview that standard scales and methods rarely apply to his work on tracks like “The Crunge” or “No Quarter.”