The band retitled the song “Stairway to Nick John” in tribute to their late manager.
Mastodon have released their cover of Led Zeppelin’s "Stairway to Heaven," retitled “Stairway to Nick John” in honor of their late manager, Nick John, for Record Store Day. You can check out the song in the clip above.
John, who was also the manager of Gojira, passed away from pancreatic cancer in September. All proceeds from the single, which was released on April 13th in 10-inch vinyl format in a limited 1,500 copy run, with benefit the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.
In a statement, the band said:
"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.
"Afterwards, finding out that someone had recorded it, we figured we should record a studio version and release it on RSD 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!”
Head here to find participating Record Store Day retailers.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
