When Tom Morello Called in a Favor From Jimmy Page

Tom Morello is regarded as one of rock’s greatest living guitarists, but even he needs a little help sometimes.

During a recent appearance on the Broken Record podcast, Morello revealed how he got his son, Roman, playing guitar – and it involved some assistance from Jimmy Page.

“How I tricked my son, Roman, into becoming a shredding all-star guitar player is during pandemic times, the kids were on, it was terrible, kids were on Zoom school and playing Fortnite,” the Rage Against the Machine rocker recalled. “And I said, he likes Led Zeppelin, so, like, give me five minutes of your time, and I'll teach you the first three notes of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’”

Morello’s basic theory was simple – he’d help Roman slowly learn the classic song, and the gravitational pull of “Stairway to Heaven” would naturally make the young musician interested in learning more.

READ MORE: The Ongoing Influence of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'

���The next day, I'm like, 'Give me four more minutes, we'll learn the next three notes,'” Morello explained. “And then the next day, he asked me, he said, 'Can we learn the next three notes?' And it was sort of building on those successes, and then he made his way all the way through the song, and he was like, you know, I wanna learn the solo.”

Tom Morello Enlists the 'Rock Power' of Jimmy Page

The Rage Against the Machine icon admitted he felt great pride watching his son explore the Led Zeppelin classic. And to drive home the experience, he called in a favor.

“I did leverage some rock power to try to encourage [Roman] further,” Morello confessed. “When he had mastered the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ solo, I filmed him playing it and sent it to Jimmy Page, who then sent back a positive reinforcement for that, and that I think was helpful.”

The connection didn’t end with a simple video. Morello went on to note that Roman and Page “are friends now,” adding that he occasionally has dinner with the Led Zeppelin guitar god.

READ MORE: How 'Evil Empire' Nearly Ended Rage Against the Machine

“He's so easy (to talk to),” Morello noted. “And I warned Roman. We have dinner, I'm like, you can ask him, he's really gonna answer any question you want. Like, so on, you know, ‘Achilles Last Stand,’ how many guitars are stacked in the pre-chorus. And he knows a lot of that. He's pretty good.”

Morello went on to note how much he enjoyed watching his son – who had previously been “immersed in a world of hip-hop and pop music” – embrace a beloved classic rock tune. “And the lesson in that is great music is great music,” he remarked. “It's not marketed to a generation in a way that it was marketed to another generation, (but) it doesn't make it any less great.”

Roman is now 15 years old and has become one of Tom's closest collaborators. Not only do they tour together, but the young rocker contributed to to Tom's new solo album, Everyone Gets Everything They Want, which arrives Sept. 25.