During an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson reminisced on paying tribute to Led Zeppelin with a cover of “Stairway to Heaven” at the Kennedy Center Honors back in 2012. Iron Maiden Turned Down By A-List Singer
Nancy Wilson opens up on Led Zeppelin
She was asked how it went when they played ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the Kennedy Honors and if the Zeppelin members were actually there. She mentioned it to be ‘daunting’ task as well revealed why it was ’emabarrassing’.
“Yeah, it was daunting because we only had one rehearsal the night before because we were on tour already. We had a private way in to get there for the one rehearsal the day before the show, and it was cold in December, and waiting for a car outside to take us to the rehearsal.
My hands got really frozen like icicles, and then we were rushed straight into this rehearsal room with everybody, all the singers, all the bands and players, and everybody, and it’s like, ‘OK, go…’So I was like kind of blowing it, just because my fingers wouldn’t move very fast, because it was so freaking cold. Then after I stumbled my way through, I was probably red as a beet because it was so embarrassing.”
Nancy is promoting a new solo record titled “You and Me.” She also revealed how the band stars lavished praise on her for playing the song well:
“I was all about myself to start out the song, and I was just as methodical as I could possibly be, and later [Jimmy] Page said, ‘You played that great. I learned to hate this song, but you guys really nailed it…’Because people murder the song all the time. And then Jonesy [John Paul Jones, bass], who we worked with [on the 1995 live acoustic album ‘The Road Home’], he’s like, ‘Way to go!’ He’s really sweet, they’re all really sweet. I love the way that the musical director guy at the Kennedy center, how they planned the arrangements so beautifully.”
