Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant Testifies In Stairway To Heaven Trial

(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant testified in a Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday as part of a copyright infringement lawsuit over the band's 1971 signature song, "Stairway To Heaven."

Rolling Stone reports Plant reconfirmed statements made earlier in the trial by both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones that the song's origins began at the country estate Headley Grange and not the Welsh cottage Bron-Yr-Aur, contradicting decades of Zeppelin mythology.

"One evening, Jimmy Page and I sat by the fire going over bits and pieces," Plant testified, explaining how he would leave the musicians and go into his room to build the melody and lyric based on his fascination with Celtic lore, "the mountains of Wales, Snowdonia ... and the pastoral areas of Britain I love."

The singer also revealed that he first brought Spirit's work to the rest of his bandmates, having discovered their song "Fresh-Garbage" on a 1968 Columbia Records compilation and then incorporating a cover of it into Zeppelin's early live sets.

Regarding "Taurus" - the Spirit instrumental that Zeppelin are accused of plagiarizing as the basis for the trial - Plant said, "I didn't remember it then, and I don't remember it now."

As the defense continued, Page retook the stand to describe how the band worked together to build "Stairway" through its various stages during rehearsals Headley Grange. Read more here.

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