How Run‑D.M.C.’s “Walk This Way” Cover Saved Aerosmith And Changed Music Forever
It’s almost July 1986. MTV is king, hair spray is a currency, and Aerosmith are on life support. Toys in the Attic had been a decade earlier, Joe Perry had split, Steven Tyler was a mess, and the band’s 1985 comeback record Done With Mirrors barely registered. Then a young producer named Rick Rubin convinces two Queens MCs to do something unheard of: actually cover a white rock song instead of just sampling it. The result not only revives Aerosmith’s career but rewires pop music. As we approach the 40th anniversary of Run‑D.M.C. and Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way”, it’s time to revisit the unlikely cover that changed everything.
Aerosmith’s Original: Inspiration and Early Impact
The germ of “Walk This Way” wasn’t born in a rehearsal space but in a movie theater. While writing Toys in the Attic in early 1975, the band hit a wall and took a break to see Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein. In one scene, Marty Feldman’s Igor hobbles away telling Gene Wilder to “walk this way” – and Wilder imitates his limp. Guitarist Joe Perry later recalled that the band returned to the studio laughing and tossing around the line; producer Jack Douglas suggested they use it as a title and lyric. Aerosmith cut the song at New York’s Record Plant and released it that summer. Their funk‑inflected riff rock hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977 and became a staple of their live set. Still, by the mid‑’80s, Aerosmith were in free fall: addiction, internal drama and changing tastes left them looking like yesterday’s news.
How Run‑D.M.C.’s Collaboration Came to Be
Enter Rick Rubin. While producing Run‑D.M.C.’s third album Raising Hell, he wanted “a white rock song that can be turned into a rap song”. Rubin convinced the group to remake “Walk This Way” rather than just loop its intro. He then coaxed Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to participate; the rest of Aerosmith stayed home partly to avoid paying full band fees. Both camps were reluctant – Run‑D.M.C. feared alienating hardcore hip‑hop fans and Aerosmith worried about being seen as a novelty – but they trusted Rubin’s vision.
The session unfolded like a culture‑shock summit. Tyler re‑sang his 1975 verses while Run, D and Jam Master Jay traded raps, and Perry shredded the iconic riff. Director Jon Small captured it all in a video where a literal wall separates Aerosmith and the rappers until Tyler smashes through it with his mic stand. The metaphor wasn’t subtle, but it was effective: MTV viewers witnessed rock and hip‑hop shaking hands in real time.
Why “Walk This Way” Changed Everything
Released as Raising Hell’s second single on July 4, 1986, “Walk This Way” exceeded everyone’s expectations. The track peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went Top 10 in the U.K. and several other countries. It earned a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single and rotated constantly on MTV, exposing rap to mainstream rock fans and rock to hip‑hop audiences. The song’s success helped Raising Hell become the first multi‑platinum hip‑hop album and convinced gatekeepers that rap belonged on pop radio. In 2018, the Library of Congress inducted Raising Hell into the National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, and artistically significant”.
For Aerosmith, the impact was even more dramatic. “Walk This Way” reintroduced the band to MTV’s youth, paving the way for their own late‑’80s hits like “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” and “Love in an Elevator”. The collaboration proved they could update their sound without pandering, and the renewed attention energized them to write stronger material. As the American Songwriter piece notes, the song “revitalized Aerosmith’s career” and simultaneously “launched Run‑D.M.C. into the mainstream hip‑hop scene”. By literally smashing through the wall in that video, both groups found a new audience and redefined what pop music could be.
Aftermath and Legacy 40 Years On
Forty years later, the influence of “Walk This Way” is impossible to overstate. It kicked open the door for rap‑rock hybrids from Public Enemy and Anthrax’s “Bring the Noise” to Rage Against the Machine and Linkin Park. The 2026 book When Rock Met Hip‑Hop acknowledges this cultural turning point by noting that 2026 marks “the 40th anniversary of Run‑DMC and Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’”, placing it alongside the 35th anniversary of “Bring The Noise” and other landmark crossovers. The anniversary arrives as Gen Xers (many of whom first heard rap via this song) introduce their kids to the track and as streaming platforms surface a new wave of genre‑bending covers.
Looking back, it’s easy to forget how precarious the experiment seemed. Without Rubin’s insistence and Tyler and Perry’s willingness to show up, Aerosmith might have faded out and Run‑D.M.C. might have remained a hip‑hop niche act. Instead, a film‑inspired riff, a rap crew from Queens and a rock band from Boston collided and created a moment that still resonates.
Honorable Mentions
If “Walk This Way” is the gold standard for covers that changed a career, it’s not alone. Quiet Riot’s bludgeoning take on Slade’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” turned an unknown L.A. club band into the first metal act to top the U.S. albums chart; Joan Jett & the Blackhearts transformed the Arrows’ “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” into a generational anthem; and Johnny Cash’s stark cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” rewrote the final chapter of his career. These songs illustrate how the right cover at the right time can alter a trajectory—but none smashed a wall like the one Run‑D.M.C. and Aerosmith broke through in 1986.
Share Your Take
Were you watching MTV when Steven Tyler knocked down that wall? Which crossover cover blew your mind? Drop your memories and your favorite genre‑bending covers in the comments. Let’s debate whether any other collaboration has ever had the same impact.
