As part of Record Store Day, which happened this past weekend, Mastodon released a special 7" vinyl featuring a cover of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven."
The song is now available for streaming. The song was released in tribute to their deceased longtime manager, Nick John, who they considered a father figure.
The band performed "Stairway to Heaven" at John's funeral, and after seeing a recording of the performance, they decided to make a limited release in his honor with proceeds donated to charity. Here's what the band has to say:
In early September 2018, we lost one of our closest friends and our biggest fan, our manager Nick John. He was essentially the band’s Dad. From our highest highs to our lowest lows he was always there. Every single move we made went through him first as our trust in him was marrow deep. His favorite band besides us and Gojira, was Led Zeppelin. We were asked to perform “Stairway to Heaven” at his funeral. Afterward, finding out that someone had recorded it, we figured we should record a studio version and release it on Record Store Day as a tribute to Nick with all the proceeds to be donated to pancreatic cancer research. We would not be the band we are today without the help of Nick John. We miss him dearly and think of him always. We love you buddy.
The limited edition 10-inch vinyl features the Studio Version on Side A and a Live Version on Side B. It will be available in participating independent retailers on Saturday, April 13, 2019.
All of the proceeds benefit the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
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