When Aerosmith scored their very first No. 1 single, it didn’t come from a song they had written and, surprisingly, not from one they even particularly liked at first.
The track was I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, a sweeping power ballad penned by legendary songwriter Diane Warren for the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. The film, starring Bruce Willis, centered on a ragtag crew of oil drillers sent into space to destroy a giant asteroid hurtling toward Earth. It was big, dramatic, and unapologetically sentimental and the song matched that tone perfectly.
But for Aerosmith, the idea of recording an outside-written ballad for a Hollywood disaster movie was not exactly an obvious fit.
A Song They Didn’t Write Or Love
By the late ’90s, Aerosmith were already rock royalty. With decades of hits under their belt, including classics like “Dream On” and “Walk This Way,” they had built their reputation on bluesy hard rock grit and swagger. Recording a Diane Warren power ballad was a departure.
Guitarist Joe Perry later admitted that while he immediately recognized the song’s potential, he wasn’t sold on it artistically.
“I knew it was a hit,” Perry recalled. “But I didn’t really like the song. It was difficult to imagine what kind of touch we could put on it.”
For a band that prided itself on crafting its own material and infusing songs with their unmistakable chemistry, stepping into a pre-written cinematic anthem felt unfamiliar. The challenge became figuring out how to make it sound like Aerosmith, not just a studio project with their name on it.
The ‘Armageddon’ Connection
The emotional stakes were personal as well as professional. Liv Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, co-starred in Armageddon alongside Bruce Willis. The film’s climactic father-daughter storyline mirrored real life in a way that gave the song added emotional weight.
Steven Tyler’s soaring, raspy vocal performance ultimately transformed the track. Whatever doubts the band initially had, Tyler leaned fully into the drama. His performance gave the song a rawness that elevated it beyond standard movie-ballad territory.
From Reluctance To Record-Breaker
Released in 1998, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” became Aerosmith’s first, and only, No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. For a band that had already conquered rock radio, MTV, and stadium tours, it was a milestone decades in the making.
The song dominated airwaves, crossed over into adult contemporary markets, and introduced Aerosmith to a whole new generation of listeners. It also earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, cementing its place in pop culture history.
Ironically, the band that had built its legacy on edgy, riff-driven rock achieved its highest-charting success with a sweeping orchestral ballad written by someone else and tied to a Hollywood disaster epic about a planet-killing asteroid.
A Hit Is A Hit
In hindsight, the decision proved wise. Though Joe Perry and others may have had reservations, the band ultimately found a way to stamp the song with their identity, particularly through Tyler’s powerhouse delivery and the band’s layered instrumentation.
Sometimes, even rock legends have to step outside their comfort zone. And in Aerosmith’s case, that leap into cinematic melodrama, aided by Diane Warren’s songwriting, Bruce Willis’ blockbuster film, and a fictional asteroid threatening Earth, resulted in the biggest single of their career.
Not bad for a song they didn’t even really like at first.
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