Court listens very hard as Led Zeppelin deny stealing ‘Stairway To Heaven’

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has demonstrated a deft touch at deflecting questions during a court hearing into whether he might have lifted some of the music in the rock band’s 1971 hit, ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

Giving evidence in his defence in the copyright infringement case in Los Angeles, Page showed little interest in comparing his composition with the earlier instrumental work in question, ‘Taurus’, by the late Randy Wolfe, founder of the band Spirit.

Page was reluctant to compare the harmony, tempo or structure of the two songs, thwarting the lawyer representing Wolfe’s estate in the lawsuit against Led Zeppelin, Page and singer Robert Plant, as well as several music companies.