Aerosmith’s Only No. 1 Song Wasn’t Their Usual Style

Classic rock bands often had their biggest hits when they branched out into other genres. For example, Aerosmith’s only No. 1 song was a shift in sound and subject matter from their earlier music. During an interview, Steven Tyler revealed that he was shocked that his band had only one No. 1 song.

Aerosmith’s only No. 1 song was part of a dead 1990s trend

During a 2015 interview with PopMatters, Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton was asked if sex was the primary theme of Aerosmith’s music. “It is actually,” he said. “When we were young, we had these guitars that were like … lust weapons. You went out there as a way to impress women and get them to notice you. That’s still there now: you always want to be admired by the opposite sex. There’s a lot of symbolism in Aerosmith. The whole thing’s a big metaphor.”

Songs like “Rag Doll,” “Love in an Elevator,” and “Walk This Way” are risque, upbeat hard-rock songs. The band released a number of ballads like “Crazy” and “Angel” that still revolved around sex appeal. The last thing anyone expected from Aerosmith in the 1990s was for them to release a G-rated sentimental, easy-listening ballad. Yet, that’s exactly what they did with “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” the hit single from the movie Armageddon. The song was part of the same musical trend that produced other huge 1990s soundtrack ballads like “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic, “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard, and “How Do I Live” from Con Air.

Steven Tyler thought his band had multiple No. 1 songs

During a 2011 interview with Billboard, Steven Tyler explained why he was so shocked at the performance of “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”  “It was a shock, not because we had our first No. 1,” Tyler said. “But because it was our only No. 1. I thought that [of] all those other Aerosmith songs, at least one or two did.”

Tyler said “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” was successful thanks to “the magic of [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer calling me up and saying, ‘We’re doing a movie called Armageddon,” he said. “Your daughter [Liv Tyler] is in it. And I want four Aerosmith songs plus the one you did with Diane Warren.'” For context, Warren was known for writing sentimental power ballads like Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” and Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” She wasn’t writing Aerosmith-style songs about sex and she wasn’t a hard-rocker. The pairing of Aerosmith and Warren made “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” unique. The tune had the appeal of Warren’s feminine ballads and Aerosmith’s macho rock tunes at the same time.

How Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ performed

“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks in total. The track appeared on Aerosmith’s album Greatest Hits. The record peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 49 weeks.

“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” is not the quintessential Aerosmith song but it appealed to a broad audience.