UPDATED: Led Zeppelin Tripping On “Stairway To Heaven” Copyright Lawsuit

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is under fire for allegedly ripping off the famous Stairway To Heaven riff from Taurus by American band Spirit, an instrumental tune written in 1967. The second stage of the lawsuit took place in Los Angeles on Wednesday and Page continued to deny the copyright allegations.

The music in question, the opening guitar melody from Stairway To Heaven, were allegedly lifted directly from the chorus melody of Taurus. Despite owning the Spirit album featuring Taurus and having opened for the band in 1968, Page denied ever having heard the song before.

“It was totally alien to me,” he said.

The lawsuit has brought the originality of Led Zeppelin’s most iconic song into question, but the band’s attorney Peter Anderson said at the beginning of trial that the musical riff in dispute was “not unique”. He has since said the chord sequence, which “has been around forever”, reminds him more of the Mary Poppins musical number Chim Chim Cher-ee than of Spirit’s song Taurus. 

Testimony in the case is scheduled to resume on Thursday 24th of June.