This song has been played and played and played by every rock radio station and every beginning guitar player in the universe. The abuse that has poured on this classic should have done it in years ago…and it did. But…Wait…In the best example of digging a relic up and proving it can take it-Heart had the sheer beautiful audacity to get out there with Jason Bonham and play this in front of not just the President but also Led Zeppelin themselves… Rock n Roll audacity.
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Cave of Fame 
I feel the same as Rich. I would probably classify Stairway to Heaven as the best song of all time, and, despite having heard it countless times, I still get the chills every time that I hear it. I have always held the view that Stairway was the perfect song, that it could not changed in any way to make it better. As a result, I have always scoffed at those who try to perform covers of Stairway (“This is a NO Stairway zone” sums my perspective pretty well). However, I am glad to say that this video proved me wrong. While I won’t try and state that Heart’s cover of Stairway to Heaven was better than the original, it definitely came close in comparison. Thanks for showing us all this amazing song.
Best,
Pat Ahern
Cheers Pat-
When you said “perfect song” -you got my brain working- it would make a good blog post to pick 5 that I think make the cut…nothing taken away and nothing added…put them on a voyager type space thingy and send them off to an alien universe as prime examples of rock music…here we go!
I’m glad to head that you took something away from my comment. Please let me know when you write this article, I’m looking forward to reading it.
I made a list of 5 perfect rock songs…thanks for the idea…tougher than I thought, so much music to go through
I saw Buddy Guy at a blues festival 20 years ago and he stole the show- even though John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt played together…they were great but Buddy was on fire that night.
I’m one of the seemingly rare people these days who still considers this the best song of all time. I don’t buy in to the “it’s been overplayed so it’s not as good as it used to be” criticism that so many fans and critics level on this and many other songs. As for this particular performance, I’m usually very skeptical when any artist attempts to cover a Zeppelin song, but this was a winner from start to finish. Thanks for posting it and sharing it with people who might have missed the Kennedy Center Honors broadcast last week. I’m glad I got to see it, and it’s worth seeking out the entire show for spotlights on Buddy Guy and David Letterman as well.
Thanks for the comments
My opinion of the song changed after viewing this. This performance proves that you can’t kill a true classic. You can wear it out and beat it up but it will come back. Heart does something special with this. It’s almost a surreal line-up with Led Zeppelin, Buddy Guy and Dave Letterman hanging out together.
..and Buddy Guy live is something to be a part of…the man plays fire. Only seen one other bluesman top him- wait- that might make a good blog posting.
I saw Buddy Guy once, about 10 years ago, and although his playing was phenomenal as always, he has an annoying habit of stopping in the middle of a song for a spoken word section, and then moving on to another song. There were numerous times he was about to launch into guitar solo nirvana and unnecessarily killed the momentum. It’s a minor complaint, but it kept his concert from being otherworldly.
I’m curious to find out who your top pick for best live bluesman is.
That was great! Glad I saw this!