When Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. joined forces on March 9, 1986 to record an updated version of 1975’s “Walk This Way,” they couldn’t have been at more distant points in their respective careers.
The ’80s hadn’t exactly been kind to Aerosmith before they breathed a second life into thise classic song. Their 1982 album Rock in a Hard Place not only presented a fractured band lineup, but the record also failed to make a significant dent in the charts. On Done With Mirrors, released three years later, the original lineup was back together, but it did little to impress fans or critics.
Run-D.M.C., on the other hand, were on the rise during this same period. Their second album, 1985’s King of Rock, helped establish them as one of the biggest forces in the burgeoning rap movement.
But this curious collaboration may not have ever come to fruition had it not been for Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry‘s son and producer Rick Rubin, who was working with Run-D.M.C. on their third album, Raising Hell. “I heard a Run-D.M.C. song coming from my son Aaron’s room,” Perry told The Wall Street Journal in 2014. “They were new to me, and I liked it. The sound was like a freight train. A month later, I got a call from Run-D.M.C.’s producer, Rick Rubin, who said he wanted [Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell] to rap over our song.”
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