Led Zeppelin: "Stairway To Heaven" features in a film trailer for the first time

This time Led Zeppelin have given in. After repeatedly refusing to let the classic “Stairway To Heaven” be used in films like “Wayne’s World” and “Almost Famous”, the English band has agreed to let their celebrated 1971 song soundtrack the new trailer for “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew”, the film directed by Greta Gerwig for Netflix and due in theaters in February. A significant concession for a band that has traditionally been reluctant to license its music for film.

Originally released on Zeppelin's fourth album, the track has been deeply reworked to accompany the film's footage. Robert Plant's voice emerges isolated and steeped in reverb, while Jimmy Page's famous solo takes on an even more imposing impact, suited to the spectacular taste of Hollywood trailers.
Also helping to secure the green light was a meeting between Jimmy Page and the director of “Lady Bird“, “Little Women” and “Barbie“. “I had the privilege of meeting Greta Gerwig, a force in the world of film”, the guitarist recalled. “She's a brilliant creative talent, as 'Little Women', 'Lady Bird', 'Barbie' and the upcoming Narnia film all show. I'm thrilled she chose 'Stairway To Heaven' for her film's trailer”.

According to Variety, Gerwig had personally written to Page and Plant to ask permission to use the song, also showing them an early cut of the film. The adaptation brings to the screen “The Magician's Nephew”, the C.S. Lewis novel that tells the origins of Narnia and opens the series according to the story's chronological order. For the director, the choice of the song responds above all to a narrative affinity: “It's an epic song and it tells of a spiritual journey, a path among false idols and wrong turns you can take. It made sense to use it to introduce this world”, she explained. “I was deeply moved that they allowed me to use this song. They understood the heart and the story of the film”.

Led Zeppelin have historically put up fierce resistance to having their songs used in Hollywood film soundtracks. Among the more recent films that have benefited from the band's music are “Argo” (2012) and “The Big Short” (2015), both of which used “When The Levee Breaks”, “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017), with “Immigrant Song”, and “The Further Mis-Adventures Of Cliff Booth” (2026), with “Black Dog”.

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