While Dolly Parton may be a country artist at heart, she has actually dipped her toe into the rock genre. In 2002, she surprised her fans when she closed her album, Halos & Horns, with an incredible cover of Led Zeppelin’s iconic hit, “Stairway To Heaven.”
Parton said she seems like “walking on sacred ground” recording the song, knowing that it’s a fan-favorite, classic rock. She even admitted to being feeling “scared to death” when she sent her rendition to songwriters, Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page – but being legendary that she is, Plant and Page found themselves impressed. Most especially Plant, who had always thought of “Stairway To Heaven” as a spiritual song, and he can’t help but feel thrilled that Parton’s team used a choir on it as he once thought of it too!
“If they like it, that’s most important to me. But I do hope the public will accept it too. I even hope they love it,” the country icon said. Well, there’s no doubt about that – especially that she made the fan-favorite, classic rock her own by adding “a few little-ad-libbed lines” into the song.
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Indeed, It Caught The Public Listener’s Attention
Just like most of Dolly Parton songs, country music fans welcomed her rendition of “Stairway To Heaven” wholeheartedly. It helped the album peak at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. It even earned positive reviews from music critics, calling it “a touching and worthy remake.”
“Stairway To Heaven” was released as a single in 1971 by the rock band Led Zeppelin. It has since been widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Truly, she’s a legendary artist in any genre. You can watch Dolly Parton‘s performance of “Stairway to Heaven” during her Live and Well concert special in 2002.
