Ever wondered why there seems to be an unspoken rule not to play Led Zeppelin’s opus, Stairway to Heaven, at your local guitar store? All roads – or, ahem, stairways – lead to the 1992 movie Wayne’s World. Specifically, the scene that’s forever cemented in pop culture and guitar lore.
“I think this whole thing started with Wayne's World making fun of Stairway,” Guitar Center CEO Gabe Dalporto tells Guitar World, referring to the iconic “No Stairway, Denied” scene.
Perhaps frustrated by the sheer number of players attempting to emulate Jimmy Page, Guitar Center employees did in fact, at some point, “Put signs up in the stores [saying], ‘No Stairway.’
“And then I think people got scared to play Stairway… and so almost nobody played Stairway anymore,” Dalporto admits.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Lithuanian multi-instrumentalist and content creator Døvydas decided to test the waters and bring badly played renditions of the Led Zeppelin classic back to stores nationwide.
Dalportpo continues, “He's like, ‘Hey, I want to come in and shoot in Guitar Center.’ So I went down and met with him, and we're like, ‘I think it's time, let's lift the ban.’ And so we did a version of Stairway. We're just kind of jamming and playing back and forth… and we officially lifted the ban.”
And while Stairway to Heaven is finally back on the cards, there are a couple of songs that Guitar Center staff members would rather not hear again.
“We went and did a survey – the top 10 most overplayed songs and most hated songs in Guitar Center – [and] the number one song was [Metallica’s] Master of Puppets,” Dalporto reveals, referring to the company's recently published list of the 10 most-played guitar riffs in its stores.
In a seperate interview with Guitar World’, Dalporto addressed the skepticism surrounding Guitar Center's new in-house brand.
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