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A new Led Zeppelin documentary hits theaters this Friday, ready to remind everyone why the group is still one of rock’s greatest bands.
It’s all there —Jimmy Page’s searing riffs, Robert Plant’s ethereal vocals, John Paul Jones’ masterful grooves, and John Bonham’s thunderous drums — bursting from IMAX screens with the energy that made Zeppelin legendary.
The music industry is littered with examples of artists walking a fine line between inspiration and outright theft, often stepping well over it.
But even as the film celebrates Led Zeppelin’s glory, an old question refuses to die: How much of that brilliance was theirs to begin with?
Whole Lotta Controversy
The accusations are hardly new. The band’s most iconic song, “Stairway to Heaven,” has been embroiled in controversy for decades, accused of lifting its opening riff from Spirit’s “Taurus.” The similarities are impossible to ignore. Honestly, you’d have to be tone-deaf — or actually deaf — not to notice the unmistakable descending acoustic progression that led to a courtroom battle.
Zeppelin may…
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