Misha Mansoor records major-key version of Stairway to Heaven, dubs it Escalator to Hell

(Image credit: Future)

Let’s just admit it – all this self-distancing and quarantining-at-home has led to us losing our minds just a little bit.

Clearly, it’s even pushed Misha Mansoor to his limit, as the Periphery electric guitar maestro has delivered his own twisted version of Stairway to Heaven.

In a video uploaded to Instagram, Mansoor grabs a rather sweet-looking Fender Japan Modern Stratocaster HH to fingerpick the intro to the Led Zeppelin classic – with all the minor chords replaced with major chords.

escalator to hell Misha Mansoor

A photo posted by @mishaperiphery on Apr 3, 2020 at 11:09pm PDT

The result? Mansoor calls it Escalator to Hell – although it sounds like quite a pleasant journey, really.

We suggest whipping this one out to get around the “No Stairway” rule the next time you’re in a Guitar Center – whenever that may be. And, as far as we know, there were no lawsuits involved in the making of this video.

Mansoor isn't the only guitarist to offer up his version of Stairway during the coronavirus lockdown, as Adam Sandler - of all people - played the song's climatic solo during a video-chat episode of Conan.

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Richard Bienstock

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.