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Mary J. Blige Covers Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'

Posted Feb 3rd 2010 6:00PM by Charley Rogulewski
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Mary J. Blige holed up in a studio in the Hollywood landmark Capitol Records building this past Tuesday (Feb. 2) and put her soulful twist on Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven.' She wasn't alone either. On hand, a super group of sorts, that included 'American Idol' judge Randy Jackson on bass, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, rock guitarists Steve Vai and newcomer Orianthi, that latter being the Australian-bred blonde and guitar sleuth selected for Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' tour. "I never worked with them," Blige admits to the BoomBox, in between flawless takes of singing 'Stairway' in the isolation booth. "I think I worked with Randy before."

The attention Blige received for her cover of U2's 'One,' which appeared on her 2005 album, 'The Breakthrough,' lead her to revisit the rock song again. Blige's take on the Zeppelin song -- a song that rock critics for years have pegged as one of the greatest rock songs of all time -- will appear as a bonus track on the international release of Blige's 'Stronger With Each Tear.'

"The one thing that I get out of the lyrics 'she is buying a stairway to heaven' is what so many of us have done and do, meaning we buy a bunch of material things to get peace," she says. "I was a kid when I first heard it. It made me feel weird, but it made me feel peaceful, and then when the rock 'n' roll part came in, it made me feel charged, but at the same time that peace didn't leave me. I was able to see into music, and fell into music, to the depths where other people can't feel it or see it, so that made me want to do it."

Filed under: R&B News, Exclusive
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55 Comments

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vlomond

natalie cole made a classic out of Bruce Springsting's "pink cadillac" but Mary is no NatALIE! God help her.

February 09 2010 at 10:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

fruity2cn

Ok, now I'm only 26 and I don't have the same experience with this song as, say, my Dad might have but this actually pains me. I've loved this song (and Zep) for as long as I can remember and I can't imagine that this "singer" thinks herself worthy enough to even attempt this song in a karaoke bar, let alone in an actual studio while recording it. When I read this, I felt a little nauseous. LEAVE IT ALONE MARY. But, hey, thanks for destroying one of the greatest song in history. Would you like to try "My Generation" next? I'm sure The Who wouldn't be upset at all....

February 07 2010 at 10:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

gamer3995

I am a HUGE led zep fan. I do not think this women is a bad singer, but she SURE AS HELL CAN'T TOUCH ZEPPELIN!

"Jeff
at 2-04-2010
PLEASE!!! You DON'T mess with a classic!!!! Todays singers have NO idea about what CLASSIC ROCK MUSIC is or was all about!! They have to have dancing, sampling (Stealing from classic rock songs) or the same beat for every song they sing!!
Leave the Classic Rock Songs where they belong.. With the original singers or bands!!!!
"

Agreed

February 04 2010 at 8:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jws10669

there are some song that just should "never" be redone the are immortal and should stay that way

February 04 2010 at 7:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Eric

Since Robert Plant and Jimmy Page own the copyright to this song, Mary J. Blige couldn't record it without their permission. So, obviously they're okay with her recording their CLASSIC ROCK song.

February 04 2010 at 7:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Eric's comment

creapingdeath22

Wrong actually. Copyright gives you many rights but that is a common misconception. Pertaining to this, Led Zep only had the right to make the first recording of the song. After that, any one is allowed to record the song, with or without permission as long as it is deemed fair use.

February 15 2010 at 7:19 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

bunton21

For me personally this doesn't seem like a good idea. It seems like blasphemy to remake something that golden.

February 04 2010 at 7:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

vcw316

Some songs arent meant to be remade. This happens to be one of them. Please dont do it.

February 04 2010 at 7:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kat

For our audiences, educational words for the day: Led Zeppelin among pop/rap artist is the most SAMPLED band. This is FACT! so ZEPPELIN CHILDREN rest easy in recognizing that even these portrayers understand and are drawn to ZEPPELINS THUNDER. So they prosper off the credits and unbelievable talents of these musicians{key word there}.although we look to the stars to fulfill our dreams. ZEPPELIN NATION HAS NO BOUNDRIES!!!THATS POWER after all these years. rejoice in the sounds of LED ZEP!

February 04 2010 at 7:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Kami

Stairway to Heaven is a song that should NEVER be done again by a different artist. It does not matter how good that artist is.

February 04 2010 at 6:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jerome

It'll just make us appreciate the original even more

February 04 2010 at 6:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

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