Jimmy Page met film director Greta Gerwig and allowed the use of “Stairway to Heaven” in the first trailer for her new film “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew”.
“I had the privilege of meeting Greta Gerwig, a powerhouse in the world of cinema,” Page wrote on Instagram in a post timed to coincide with the release of the film’s trailer.
“She is a switched on creative, as seen by way of Little Women, Lady Bird and Barbie, and the soon to be released @narniamovie @official_narnia,” Page continued. “I am thrilled that she chose Stairway to Heaven in the trailer for her film.”
Speaking to Stephen Colbert at a preview event ahead of the trailer’s release, Gerwig reportedly explained how she convinced Led Zeppelin to sign off on her use of the song.
“Gerwig wrote to the band’s vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page and showed them an early cut of the film to convince them to let her use their rock anthem for the big screen,” Variety reported.
“They saw the heart of the film,” Gerwig explained, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
USA Today reports that Gerwig met with both Page and Plant. “They had not let it be used for anything,” Gerwig reportedly said of the song. “I was so moved that they allowed me to use this song,” she added.
“They did it because they saw the heart in the story,” Gerwig said, according to the AP. “And they, too, love C.S. Lewis.”
Page and the other members of Led Zeppelin remain selective over how the band’s music is used in film and television.
The band signed off on the use of “Black Dog” in the trailer for “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” which was released last month.
The band also agreed to license “Whole Lotta Love” for use in a key sequence in the 2025 film “F1”.
Led Zeppelin reportedly charges a seven-figure fee to license its music for use in films, The Los Angeles Times reported in 2012.
Those licensing agreements are often personally decided upon by the surviving members of the band and sometimes come with specific conditions.
For example, when the 2012 film “Argo” requested to licence “When The Levee Breaks”, Led Zeppelin requested that a shot of a needle dropping on to the record in the film when the song begins to play was altered to show it dropping on to the correct track from Led Zeppelin’s fourth album.
“So not only did we have to pay for the song,” the film’s director Ben Affleck told The Los Angeles Times, “we had to pay for an effects shot. You have to appreciate their attention to detail, though.”
Led Zeppelin has been particularly reluctant to grant licenses for others to use “Stairway to Heaven”. The band repeatedly refused requests in the 2000s to license the song for a theme park rollercoaster.
“They felt the song was too revered as they mentioned it is played at weddings and funerals and other important occasions,” Hard Rock Park Chief Creative Officer Jon Binkowski told LedZepNews last year. The ride eventually used “Whole Lotta Love”.
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