'Stairway to Heaven' Stolen? Led Zeppelin Ripped Off Intro From 'Taurus,' Says Lawyer (LISTEN)
"Stairway to Heaven," the iconic rock song by Led Zeppelin, will be the subject of a lawsuit after a lawyer claims the English band stole the widely-known guitar intro from "Taurus," a song by a band called Spirit. Spirit's lead guitarist Randy California died in poverty in 1997, but his lawyer Francis Alexander Malofiy is demanding that his late client get a writing credit on "Stairway to Heaven."
The "Stairway to Heaven" plagiarism claims come as reissues for Led Zeppelin's first four albums are coming up in June. A copyright infringement lawsuit could prevent the untitled fourth album, widely referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, from being re-released.
"The idea behind this is to make sure that Randy California is given a writing credit on Stairway to Heaven," Malofiy, 66, told Bloomberg Businessweek. "It's been a long time coming."
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The alleged stealing comes in the very recognizable guitar introduction to "Stairway to Heaven," but at 43 seconds into "Taurus" a similar descending riff is played.
In order to prove copyright infringement, Malofiy would have to prove that Led Zeppelin had access to "Spirit" when they wrote they're 1971 hit opus "Stairway to Heaven," and that the two songs sound similar to the average listener. The first claim is fairly simple: Led Zeppelin played four gigs alongside Spirit in 1968 and 1969 when "Taurus" was already created and also played some of Spirit's songs, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
However, the second claim could be tougher to prove. While some have noticed the similarities between the 10-second portion of "Taurus" and "Stairway to Heaven," music experts will debate in court and potentially point out that "Taurus" as a whole doesn't sound anything like the more famous rock song.
Still, it could hurt Led Zeppelin that they have been caught borrowing from songs before. "Whole Lotta Love," "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," "The Lemon Song" and "Dazed and Confused" all resulted in legal action against the band, and in each case they ended up adding writing credits to the songs.
Randy California, born Randy Wolfe, admitted that he too heard similarities, but because he lacked the funds he never pursued legal recourse. Now Malofiy is working for Spirit's former bassist Mark Andes.
"'Stairway to Heaven' [was a] ripoff," California said in an interview with Listener published after his drowning death in 1997. "The guys made millions of bucks on it and never said 'Thank you,' never said, 'Can we pay you some money for it?'"
"It's kind of a sore point with me. Maybe someday their conscience will make them do something about it," he added.
California died in poverty, with some reporting that he would play sitar in an Indian restaurant in exchange for food.
"Stairway to Heaven" had earned over $562 million by 2008, Conde Nast Portfolio estimated. To listen to both songs in comparison, click below.
