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52 years after the album's release, man on 'Led Zeppelin IV' cover is identified

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Leila Fadel. Fifty-two years after the release of Led Zeppelin's fourth studio album, the one featuring "Stairway To Heaven," the mystery behind the man on the cover has been revealed. You might remember the image - a bearded man hunched over with a bundle of sticks on his back. A researcher in England was going through a Victorian photo album when he spotted a photo he recognized, and he was able to identify the man in it, a thatcher named Lot Long.

(SOUNDBITE OF LED ZEPPELIN SONG, "STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN")

FADEL: It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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