Report: LED ZEPPELIN's 'Stairway To Heaven' Worth $572 Million
Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 21:25:04 EST


The following report is courtesy of Miriam Datskovsky from Portfolio.com:

In the big, bad game of rock and roll, 'Stairway To Heaven' is undeniably a winner. Released by LED ZEPPELIN in 1971, the eight-minute song is considered a musical masterpiece and is one of the most-played rock tunes of all time. Proving its longevity, 'Stairway' hit the UK charts again last fall and was a top download in the US, after Zeppelin’s first downloadable album launched on iTunes. But because the band is notoriously protective of its work, 'Stairway' hasn’t met its full moneymaking potential. While other artists have made big bucks by licensing songs to Hollywood and Madison Avenue—think of BOB DYLAN’s 'Love Sick' in that Victoria’s Secret commercial—Zeppelin has shunned most opportunities. We consulted executives in the music, advertising, and entertainment industries to come up with some numbers, real and potential, for the value of 'Stairway'.

Zeppelin hasn’t licensed 'Stairway' for movies or commercials. But songwriters Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and Warner/Chappell, the song’s publisher, make money off royalties from record sales, radio plays, and live performances. Zeppelin has played “Stairway” at every gig since 1971, yielding about $150,000 in royalties. Everyone from Frank Zappa to the London Philharmonic has also performed it, and let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of proms, weddings, and bar mitzvahs where it’s been played. (D.J.’s and venues pay a small annual fee for the right to play it.) Estimated gain: $400,000. Royalties from album and DVD sales total about $8.6 million. Plus 'Stairway' has been played on the radio an estimated 2,985,000 times (equal to more than 45 years of uninterrupted airtime), netting nearly $2 million. It’s also thought to be the bestselling piece of sheet music in rock history, with royalties of $1 million

I have the Zappa and Stanley Jordan covers.

Who else has covered it?

Dolly Parton

Jeez. When broken down like that, it's pretty astounding.

I'm among the Stairway Backlash Cadets. Hate hearing it. My least played Zep song.

Definitely one of those songs that turned me against "classic rock" for a long time. At least an overplayed single is over in a few minutes, but Stairway just went on and on. Free Bird was another one. I hope I'm not offending any Zeppelin or Skynard fans. They both have songs I really like, but I had ODed on those two tracks by the early 80s.

I'm with you there. It took me years to finally appreciate Freebird, in large part because I was pounded over the head with it at every turn for years and years and years. Same with Sweet Home, Alabama and other play-four-times-a-day-on-the-radio and seven-times-in-any-given-night-at-the-bar songs.

Ann Wilson on the Classic Rock Symphony CD that came out a few years ago. There's also a version of it as a bonus track on Heart's "Little Queen".

Justin Hayward has covered it as well...

Jeff

"Stairway to Gilligan's Island" by Little Roger and the Goosebumps.

I've always loved this. Apparently the 7" goes for good money. My old man is thinking about selling his copy.

Then there was the Butthole Surfers album "Hairway to Steven", was that any good?

There's a whole CD called Stairways to Heaven consisting of covers of the song by Australian artists. My favorite is by the Beatnix, done in the style of the 1964-era Beatles. It's been posted here before.

Now that version I really liked.

I didn't burn out on Free Bird but I did get really sick of it's AWFUL companion, Gimme Three Steps. I also agree that Stairway is horribly overplayed.

of course THE version is Stairway To Gilligan's Island!

Rodrigo y Gabriela do an incredible instrumental version (acoustic)

The Beatnix version is classic, and extremely clever! Thanks!

The Geezinslaws covered "Stairway To Heaven" on their Eclectic Horsemen" cd, with Willie Nelson singing backup.

A studio assemblage dubbed the Far Corporation took a dance-rock cover of "Stairway to Heaven" into the UK Top 10 in 1986, and even managed to scrape into the US charts (#89). Far Corporation was German producer Frank Farian's project in between Boney M and Milli Vanilli, and featured Bobby Kimbal, Steve Lukather, and David Paich of Toto.

In fact, this is the only version of the song to hit the Billboard Hot 100, since the Zep version wasn't released as a single (at least not here in the US). It's really pretty good, too.

Stairway is a great song that was overplayed. Wait a couple decades and listen with fresh ears and you remember why it had such impact in the first place.

Have to agree there...had been skipping over Zep for years, and then when the DVD & HTWWW came out I started to listen again, and really appreciated their artistry.

The Whippersnappers version is pretty good, also.

spirit does a real good likeness of the opening lines on their song "taurus".