The strange story of how Barbara Streisand inspired Aerosmith’s only number one hit
Despite being two of the biggest names of their generation, the similarities between Barbara Streisand and Aerosmith are pretty much non-existent. Strangely, though, by proxy, Streisand would end up providing the controversial Boston band with their only number one hit.
Although Streisand and her mansion with a peculiar underground shopping mall seem to occupy a cultural environment distinct from that of the sex, drugs, and general hedonism of Aerosmith, the story starts with Streisand’s actor husband, James Brolin.
Per an account in The Ringer, in 1997, Streisand and Brolin sat down for a saccharine TV interview with Barbara Walters to discuss their newfound romance, which began the previous year. During the interview, The A Star is Born actor relayed an anecdote involving Brolin, whom she would marry a year later.
“And we’re just about to fall asleep, I thought,” Streisand said. “[Brolin] says, ‘I don’t want to fall asleep. And so I say, ‘Why not?’ And he says, ”Cause then I’ll miss you.'”
Like many people, Diane Warren also watched the interview with fascination. A famed songwriter known for DeBarge’s 1985 hit ‘Rhythm of the Night’ and Cher’s ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, she was inspired by Streisand’s anecdote. As a result, Warren scribbled a hypothetical song title down: ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’.
Only months later, Warren was enlisted to write a song for Michael Bay’s upcoming sci-fi blockbuster, Armageddon. The title she had written down when watching the Streisand-Brolin interview would then be brought to life as a fully-fledged ballad. After initially imagining Celine Dion singing the material, eventually, Aerosmith were drafted in to record it. Still, it took some time for them to get used to.
Drummer Joey Kramer has been open about his reservations and maintains that he still isn’t fond of the track. “I kind of knew it was a hit, but I didn’t really like the song,” he told Louder Sound in 2021. “I didn’t think that song was us…. It was difficult to imagine what kind of touch Aerosmith could put on it and make it our own. When we finally did make it our own, that’s when it became what it is. It was just a question of learning the song and playing it as a band. As soon as we began playing it as a band, then it instantly became an Aerosmith song.”
Regardless, Aerosmith had finally secured their first number one with the track. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains their only song to have climbed to the top of the charts. It was so popular in the United Kingdom that it sold over a million copies, despite being what many Aerosmith fans would argue is the worst song in their catalogue.
Listen to ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ below.
