Led Zeppelin Stole Their Most Famous Song from Another Artist

Facts Verse
Facts Verse
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Published 2024-05-16
Did you know that Led Zeppelin's legendary song "Stairway to Heaven" isn't the only track shrouded in mystery? Did you know many of their biggest hits like "Whole Lotta Love" and "Dazed and Confused" have been alleged to be heavily borrowed or even outright copied from other artists' works?

▬Contents of this video▬
00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
01:53 - Dazed and Confused
02:53 - Whole Lotta Love
03:54 - The Lemon Song
04:46 - Since I've Been Loving You
05:37 - Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
06:21 - Hats Off to (Roy) Harper
07:05 - In My Time of Dying
08:10 - Stairway to Heaven
09:22 - Outro

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Led Zeppelin's catalog is filled with iconic rock anthems that defined their signature sound of fusing hard rock bombast with elements of folk, blues, and psychedelia. However, behind many of their most famous songs lies a complicated web of inspirations, allegations of plagiarism, and legal battles over proper songwriting credits.

Take "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" from their 1969 debut, a song they initially credited as a "Traditional" arrangement when it was actually written by Anne Bredon in the 1950s. Or "Dazed and Confused," which Jimmy Page lifted the music for from a 1967 folk song by Jake Holmes before adding new lyrics. Then there's "Whole Lotta Love," with lyrics heavily inspired by the Willie Dixon-penned Muddy Waters classic "You Need Love."

The examples don't stop there. "The Lemon Song" blends lines from Robert Johnson with music from Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor." "Since I've Been Loving You" lifts lyrics nearly verbatim from Moby Grape. "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" is a not-so-subtle interpretation of Bert Jansch's "The Waggoner's Lad." Even the epic "In My Time of Dying" is essentially a coverof an old gospel-blues standard.

To Led Zeppelin's credit, they didn't try to hide their influences completely—tracks like "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper" playfully nod to their inspirations. But more often than not, it took legal action for the original writers to get proper credit and royalties. The band members had differing perspectives, with Jimmy Page downplaying it as minor variations while Robert Plant admitted he "nicked" whole lyrics.

Ultimately, while Led Zeppelin unquestionably created pioneering, influential music, their legacy is somewhat complicated by these borrowing incidents. Were they just extending the folk tradition of sharing songs? Or did they cross an ethical line into plagiarism? Watch the full video to explore these rock and roll mysteries in depth.

Led Zeppelin Stole Their Most Famous Song from Another Artist
All Comments (21)
  • @stewarttomkinson3356
    As soon magician friend of mine says, there are no new ways to write riffs they’ve all been done
  • @maestromike91971
    A bunch of bands use other people’s music. There are a bunch of lawsuits going around. Such as the Beach. Boys and many different styles of bands that take 99% of someone else’s song. There’s not too many songs you can write that’s not going to sound like others. Being a musician,Singer/Songwriter. I check every song I write I check to see if it’s close to anyone else’s.
  • @joemomma3208
    what don’t they steal? The only thing they ever “created” was the patent office! ( I’m not just referring to Led Zeppelin)
  • @thefamouspeopleus
    Wow, I had no idea Led Zeppelin borrowed so much from other artists!
  • @thisisme3238
    Don't know if Zeppelin is guilty or not of stealing anything from any music artist..but I know this much, Zeppelin has some of the best rock music ever. "Stairway to Heaven," is one example, simply timeless song.
  • @993isgawd
    Yeah Page and Plant were absolutely "guilty" of borrowing from others, and not giving credit where it was due. But it didn't stop their recreations and reinterpretations from being great unto themselves. Hell, it's only when the 'copy' becomes famous and successful that the scrutiny and lawsuits comes out of the woodwork.
  • @glebell
    i think there is a version of Joan Baez doing Babe i'm... before Zeppelin. Gallows Pole is traditional i saw it in an old western movie i think from the 40's, and although they did rip and nick ect they like Beatles and others kicked those songs into more than the songs were and made it what we liked even more. And many the curious have dug into the foundational versions by Blues and ect artistes to hear those tunes and recognize names that otherwise would be looked over even if its in the credits. ohh well
  • @johnnyblas576
    A lot of band always copy other artists it doesn’t mean that their thieves all they gotta do is do the right thing and give them credit like that. They have the royalties and everybody’s happy if you don’t give them credit they’ll wait for a while then they’ll sue you nowadays you could do that on Cd Baby you’ll pay for using, other artist material and that’s OK. Nothing wrong with playing somebody else’s songs specially with the great.
  • @joshcoe
    the return of the stairway to the heaven led zeppelin
  • @joshcoe
    when country music stars! attack led zeppelin