Song:I Don't Want To Miss A Thing
Album:Devil's Got A New Disguise: The Very Best Of Aerosmith
Would it surprise you to know that I Don't Want To Miss A Thing is the only number one hit in Aerosmith's long history? I know it surprised me. Back in their heyday in the 70s, Aerosmith was more of an album and touring act. They had a couple of top ten hits but never had a number one hit. By 1998, Aerosmith had just returned to Columbia Records and their first album on their return, 1997's Nine Lives, was a big disappointment. It was slammed by reviewers and though it sold OK, there were a lot of problems with the album and it wasn't up to their standards. So both Aerosmith and Columbia were desperate for a hit single. Meanwhile, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was to star in the blockbuster movie Armageddon. A Columbia exec asked Armageddon producer Jerry Bruckheimer what he thought about Aerosmith performing a song on the soundtrack. The band was on tour at the time. I Don't Want To Miss A Thing was written by veteran schlock songwriter Diane Warren for Celine Dion. The producers were going to have U2 record it for the movie. But instead they brought Aerosmith in to record four songs for the movie. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said that recording the song quickly without thinking about it much probably helped the band at the time. Armageddon was released Aug. 1998 and I Don't Want To Miss A Thing went to number one immediately. The soundtrack for Armageddon was certified 4XPlatinum. The soundtrack is available as a budget CD. But you can also get I Don't Want To Miss A Thing on a few Aerosmith comps including this budget CD released in 2006. It has some of Aerosmith's classic 70s songs and some more recent songs. The success of I Don't Want To Miss A Thing reinvigorated Aerosmith when they were at a low point and really needed a big hit. Here's the video for I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith.
I am very surprised about them not having a number one hit until late in their career. During the 70's they were big because of their bad boy, sexy image. I heard a lot of their songs on the radio, and lot of people at junior high and high school loved them. They were pretty wild back in the 70's.
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