As has been the inevitable trend for every celebration in 2020, this December’s annual Kennedy Center Honors was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, reports Devon Ivie of Vulture. The Center’s 2020 recipients had yet to be named prior to the postponement (the plan is to do a “reimagined” version of the show in the spring), which, by our logic, means one thing: We will instead be honoring Ann Wilson’s virtuosic cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” from the 2012 ceremony.

As the lore famously goes, Ann Wilson and her fellow Heart sister, Nancy Wilson, were recruited to perform this “Stairway To Heaven” cover alongside a stunningly large orchestra and choir section, which crescendos to the point of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones being moved to various points of weepiness and pride. 

Marvel at both the cover and Wilson’s memories of that beloved, award-worthy performance eight years later, in conversation with the rock god herself. An excerpt follows:

Before you were privy to the band’s reactions, what are your memories from those eight minutes on the stage? Did you feel confident that you achieved something spectacular?

"I actually felt every second of it as a real, not to overstate it, but pretty damn close to orgasmic in terms of bliss. I felt wide awake and alive, and I felt the emotional content of the song all the way down to the ground. It was really authentic. The emotions involved in performing that were wide awake and in the moment."

What enhanced that authenticity?

"The beauty of the song and the poetry of the lyrics. 'Stairway To Heaven' represents a whole universe of Led Zeppelin and so many people love that song. Everyone thinks that they know what it means and have their own little idea about how to interpret it, but there’s something about the poetry of that song that’s really hopeful and upbeat. Something about unity. Hey, there’s a better day coming. That message is ancient and pure and universal. That’s what I felt performing it. That’s why I almost teared up singing it — it’s so beautiful."

When you watch it back, is there a moment that still gives you goosebumps?

"My special moment is when the song goes from the more gentle parts into the rock parts. It goes through this gate of introspective to being big, muscular, aggressive, and soulful. That was my favorite part. Feeling that energy coil up and then open."

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