Tom Lubnau: The Power Performance That Calls Us Higher

Let’s chat about excellence for a change.

I admire the pursuit of excellence and that’s not happening a lot in Wyoming politics right now. 

In 1971, the rock and roll supergroup Led Zeppelin, released Led Zeppelin IV containing what Rolling Stone once called the best song in rock and roll history – Stairway to Heaven. 

Jimmy Page, in a BBC interview titled “Jimmy Page: How Stairway to Heaven was written,” the outlet described what Page was trying to express in writing the work of art. 

“I wanted to try to put something together which started with quite a fragile acoustic guitar,” said Page. “The idea of stairway was to have a piece of music composition whereby it would just keep unfolding to more layers and more moods and actually the whole intensity of the subtlety and intensity of the whole composition would actually accelerate as it went through every level – every emotional level – every musical level.” 

Page recalled lead singer and lyricist Robert Plant standing against the wall of the cottage at Headley Grange composing the lyrics – most of which were written in one session. 

While the song was never released as a single, it became a staple of 1970s FM radio. 

The song was not without controversy. A copyright infringement lawsuit was filed in 2014, but the band won.

Conspiracy theorists and religious groups claimed that if one played the song backwards, one could hear a tribute to Satan.

 The band called the allegations totally and utterly ridiculous. Plant told Musician Magazine in 1983 that, "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music." 

Fast forward to December 2012. Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson found themselves charged with the daunting task of performing this iconic piece of music at the Kennedy Center Honors, in front of Led Zepplin, acknowledging their lifetime contributions to America culture. 

Heart had a concert the night before the performance in Florida. They chartered a jet to fly from Florida to the Kennedy Center for the rehearsal and performance. 

Jason Bonham, the son of the deceased original drummer for Led Zepplin, was a surprise addition to the performance. According to a YouTube comment, even as late last rehearsals for the performance, 90s music icon Dave Grohl served as drummer.

The Wilson sisters and Bonham were joined by a band of all stars, back-up singers and the Joyce Garrett Youth Choir.

Just as Page had composed the song, the three stages of the song built upon one other.

Nancy Wilson began with a skilled and sensitive acoustic guitar. Ann Wilson started building vocals, gently, throughout the piece.

In the second section of the song, a curtain behind the band revealed an orchestra and backup singers. The song mounted in both intensity and tempo.

Then in the third section of the song, another curtain rose to reveal a full choir of backup singers. Ann Wilson’s full-force three-octave voice belted out the third section.

She ended softly: “And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.”

Jason Bonham touched his heart and pointed at the band members in the balcony.

The moving tribute brought grins to John Paul Jones’ and Jimmy Page’s faces, and tears to Robert Plant’s eyes.

Their tribute is in the running for one of the greatest performances of any single song, ever.

On this evening, Bonham and the Wilson sisters did something nearly impossible – they turned excellence timeless.

In a Vulture interview about the performance years later, Robert Plant commented, “Look at the company I was keeping that night. Who was I sitting next to? What was going on? I didn’t even know the people anymore. How did we move across from being a British blues band to this ridiculous achievement?”

He continued.

“And that night I was watching a reenactment — clever, well intentioned, and respectful. . . It was a spectacular performance. I’m now a voyeur. I’m not responsible for it anymore. I’m not in guitar shops being told not to do it. I’m not going down the aisle at a wedding playing it with a flute. I love the song,” he said. “It’s just a magnificent performance to watch and it kills me every time. It kills me in two or three different ways. It’s just like, Oh my God.”

Sometimes in life, work, talent, and effort combine to make something truly amazing. This performance was something that transcended excellence, taking a performance to another realm.

Let's never get so mired in issues and personalities that we forget to seek those heights ourselves. 

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com