This stunning orchestral version of Stairway To Heaven, featuring Orianthi on guitar, will make you fall in love with Led Zeppelin all over again

(Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Grammy Award-winning Memphis-born composer/songwriter/producer Kitt Wakeley has assembled a formidable collection of guitar heroes for his forthcoming Symphony of Sinners & Saints Volume II: The Storm album, Joe Satriani, Nita Strauss and Nuno Bettencourt among them.

For the album's second single, a dramatic reworking of Led Zeppelin's timeless classic Stairway To Heaven, Wakeley has called upon the talents of Australian guitarist Orianthi, perhaps best known for her work with Alice Cooper and Michael Jackson, and the might and majesty of the London Symphony Orchestra. And the results are quite spectacular.

"It was so fun to work with Kitt on this legendary track," says Orianthi. "The orchestra arrangement is beautiful. It’s always a little scary territory covering such a great tune as a guitar player and being such a huge fan of Jimmy Page. I just went into EastWest Studios and did my thing. I hope people enjoy it!"

The Storm was recorded at London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios, FAME Studios in Macedonia, and L.A.’s EastWest Studios.

In addition to the aforementioned guitarists, the album features Kenny Aronoff, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Voices choir, the Macedonian Symphony Orchestra, and the Macedonian Choir.

MVP, the lead single from the album, features Nita Strauss on guitar and Kenny Aronoff (John Cougar, Joe Satriani) on drums, in addition to the Macedonian Orchestra and Macdeonian Choir.

Earlier this month Kitt Wakeley won a Grammy for Best Classical Compendium for his most recent album, An Adoption Story.

Wakeley says: "I’m excited about building on the momentum of winning a Grammy by releasing an epic version of one of my favorite songs, featuring the amazingly talented Orianthi on guitar."

Check out the cover below... and listen out for an excerpt of another Zeppelin classic worked into the mix.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.