Robert Plant has recalled how Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant used to help him sing the correct lyrics to “Stairway to Heaven” during the band’s heyday. He also took the opportunity to reflect on the “hysterical” mythology that’s risen around the 1971 classic.

In a new interview with The Project (video above) Plant said: “I know it’s a long song and I also know that I had a little bit of trouble remembering lyrics, back in ’72, ’73. Our manager, who was quite a formidable personality … he’d come to the front of the stage in the middle of it all and he’d have the lyrics, like that Bob Dylan thing [in his video for ’Subterranean Homesick Blues’]. … Anyway, it was very funny. I can’t remember what verse goes where. I know there’s something about ‘bustle in the hedgerow’ and then all that stuff.”

Asked about how he felt about “Stairway” at the current moment, Plant replied: “The conjecture around that song is hysterical. Because it was a little bit abstract …” Responding to whether he’d expected it to become as big as it did, he said: “I didn’t think anything was going to be that big.” He also reiterated that he had no intention of ever writing a book, noting: “In between these two lugholes there are so many humorous stories – but they’re going to stay with me.” He added that, although he used to keep a diary it was “not one that anybody else would understand – it was all in code, actually.”

Plant continues to tour in support of his latest solo album, Carry Fire. He recently predicted that some kind of celebration would take place between the members of Led Zeppelin to mark the band’s 50th anniversary this year.

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