The Smashing Pumpkins seem to have made good on their promise to cover Led Zeppelin's "Stariway to Heaven" during their Shiny and Oh So Bright reunion tour. You can watch the band's cover of the classic rock staple—which took place at their tour opener at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona—above.
A few weeks back, Guitar World sat down with the Smashing Pumpkins' trifecta of guitarists—Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jeff Schroeder—for an interview that landed the group on the cover of our August 2018 issue. During the interview, Corgan was asked about a rehearsal setlist he had tweeted a few weeks before, which featured, among other eyebrow-raising covers, Led Zeppelin's "Stariway to Heaven."
"That set list is still pretty accurate," he said. "We’ll probably do the new single, 'Solara.' A few things might change. The Joy Division song ["Love Will Tear Us Apart"] is out, and so is [the Depeche Mode song] 'Never Let Me Down.' But we’re definitely doing the Zeppelin song."
When asked why, of all Led Zeppelin songs, he wanted the band to play "Stairway to Heaven," Corgan cryptically replied "Oh, you’d have to get into the inner-Pumpkins psychology on that one."
You can read our full interview with Corgan, Iha and Schroeder right here.
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