Led Zeppelin Wins Lawsuit Over Stairway to Heaven

The jury made the right call. Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin did not rip off the band "Spirit" when they recorded "Stairway to Heaven".

As we told you on the WBCK morning show, the idea was ridiculous. True, the intro to both songs was very similar. Both were in A minor. Both used a decending 4-note chromatic countermelody. So did a tune written 400 years ago written by Giovanni Batista Granata called "Sonata di Chittarra, e Violino, con il suo Basso Continuo". In fact, it's such a common device in western music, that the exact same thing is found in the songs "My Funny Valentine", "Feelings", and Leon Russell's "A Song For You."

If the song into had been unique, the trust might have had a point. In this case? No way.

The suit was brought by the trust for late songwriter RANDY WOLFE claiming that Zeppelin used a riff from SPIRIT's 1968 instrumental "Taurus" in the intro to "Stairway To Heaven."

All Access and NBC News reported a statement by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant, saying "We are grateful for the jury’s conscientious service and pleased that it has ruled in our favor, putting to rest questions about the origins of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and confirming what we have known for 45 years. We appreciate our fans’ support, and look forward to putting this legal matter behind us.”