With 2019 Record Store Day around the corner on April 13, heaps of bands are getting together some exclusive releases for the event including Mastodon, who have announced that they will be releasing a cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' in honour of their late manager Nick John, who passed away from a battle with pancreatic cancer in September.
The cover will be titled 'Stairway To Nick John' and be released on April 13 on 10" vinyl and limited to 1,500 copies. If you miss out on nabbing one, it will no doubt surface on Discogs at some point, while the song itself will probably find its way to the internet as well.
The band's statement about the cover reads:
“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!”
You can head to the Record Store Day website to see which Australian record stores will be participating in the special day!
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