Stairway to Heaven is a progressive rock composition with music by Jimmy Page and lyrics by Robert Plant, recorded for Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album (commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV) and released on Atlantic Records in November 1971. Page began assembling the music during a 1970 retreat to Bron-Yr-Aur, a remote cottage in Wales, accumulating fragments on a cassette recorder over many months. Plant wrote the lyrics in early 1971 at Headley Grange, drawing on the writings of British antiquarian Lewis Spence on Celtic magic and folklore. The composition is structured as a continuous arc from quiet acoustic fingerpicking layered with recorders through a slow electric middle section to an uptempo hard rock climax, never returning to its opening theme but instead building toward a dramatic crescendo before a brief a cappella epilogue. This architectural approach to song form, moving through distinct sections of increasing intensity while maintaining compositional cohesion, was highly unusual in early 1970s rock and became one of the composition's most influential qualities. Page recorded three improvised guitar solos for the climactic section, carefully selecting among them for the final version. The band first performed the piece live on March 5, 1971, in Belfast, where initial audience response was reportedly tepid, though it would go on to become widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. On AllSolos, it is represented by Jimmy Page's iconic electric guitar solo from the original 1971 studio recording on Led Zeppelin IV.
