Aerosmith’s biggest radio hit has ties to another popular musician, with legendary vocalist Barbra Streisand recently revealing that she was the inspiration behind the Aerosmith chart-topper “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”
The song was famously penned by acclaimed songwriter Diane Warren and received a promotional boost back in 1998 when it was chosen as the theme for the summer blockbuster film Armageddon.
In Streisand’s new memoir, My Name Is Barbra, she addresses this history of the mega Aerosmith hit, explaining how it was inspired by the words of her husband, James Brolin. Reflecting on the early days of their relationship, she recalled lying in bed with him when Brolin told her, “I don’t want to fall asleep.” When Streisand asked why, Brolin replied, “Cause I’ll miss you.”
“What a beautiful, poetic thing to say,” Streisand writes in her memoir, adding, “And it captured a moment of complete bliss …. physical, emotional, spiritual.”
While Streisand has shared the story in her book, it’s not the first time she’s mentioned this romantic interaction, and in fact, one of her previous mentions is how the song ended up coming to be. Back in 1997, the couple appeared together on 20/20 with interviewer Barbara Walters when Streisand shared the story, and Diane Warren happened to be watching the interview.
ABC News previously spoke with Warren about the song and she confirmed that the Streisand/Brolin interview was the source of inspiration for “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.”
“It was an interview he gave about how he misses her when he sleeps, you know? Like, he can’t wait to see her,” Warren said. “And I wrote down the title. I didn’t write the song, but I just thought, ‘I don’t want to miss a thing.’ That’s just a cool title, you know.”
She added, “When the movie Armageddon was in the works and needed a song, Warren said it was the time to finally write the song, starting with the chorus first. ‘Cause it was about the end of the world, and … what would you say to somebody, you know, if you didn’t have that much time left, you know. I wanted that urgency, you know? And so I wrote the song … never knowing Aerosmith was going to do it. That was amazing.”
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Speaking about their romantic moment inspiring a hit song, Streisand wrote in her book, “It was so gratifying to see so many people responding to Jim’s words Well, no wonder… so did I!”
As mentioned, the song became the band’s only Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper over the course of their historic career. It also hit No. 4 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and it’s been certified 5 times platinum in the U.S. as a single.
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