Led Zeppelin finally allowed Stairway to Heaven to be used on screen in the trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew because of their love for C.S. Lewis.
The legendary rock band have never let the original recording of their iconic 1971 track be licensed for use in a film or TV series before, but filmmaker Greta Gerwig was able to convince them for her latest offering.
Speaking during a Q+A with Stephen Colbert, she said: “They had not let it be used in anything. I was so moved that they allowed me to use the song.”
The director spoke to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, who wrote the song, and got them to personally sign off on using the song in marketing for Narnia.
She explained: “I showed them and I talked to them, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.
“They did it because they saw the heart of the story in the film and they, too, love C.S. Lewis, and they have a reverence for his work.
“The whole thing was very fortuitous. I’m so happy that it got to be this song.”
Gerwig was determined to use Stairway to Heaven in her film’s first trailer as a way of introducing her adaptation.
She said: “It’s an epic song. It’s an amazing song. It’s a narrative. It’s about a spiritual journey.
“It’s about the true path of enlightenment and spirituality, and then this path of false idols and the wrong roads you can go down.
“And I was like, ‘This is exactly the story of this movie.’ ”
Led Zeppelin have rejected several approaches to use Stairway to Heaven on screen in the past.
In 1992’s Wayne’s World, the titular character did play the opening notes in the guitar store, but the band forced them to remove the snippet from broadcast, video and foreign releases.
The Simpsons bosses wanted to feature the song in Bart Sells His Soul during a church scene, but “budget concerns” led to them going with Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida instead.
For 2000’s Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe asked his longtime pals if he could use the song for a scene in the movie based on his teen years as a reporter for Rolling Stone.
He shot a scene where William Miller (Patrick Fugit) plays the track for his mother (Fances McDormand) to help her understand rock music.
At the end, she says: “What am I supposed to say?” she asks. “They sound like nice kids. Is it meant to elevate humanity? Sure. Let’s elevate humanity after we sell you drugs and sex.”
When Crowe showed Page and Plant the scene, they weren’t too keen.
He recalled: “They said, ‘Well, Stairway to Heaven, we gotta say no to, ’cause it’s just too much. We just don’t do anything with Stairway to Heaven’.
“We’re like, ‘Whomp, whomp, whomp.’ And Page goes, ‘But I would like to give you an extra song that’s more of an acoustic busking vibe. We’ll give that to you free.’
“He replaced Stairway to Heaven with Bron-Yr-Aur. He gave that to us for free, just to have that texture in the movie, which was amazing.”