| "Dream On" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 1976 UK promotional single | ||||
| Single byAerosmith | ||||
| from the albumAerosmith | ||||
| B-side | "Somebody" | |||
| Released | June 27, 1973 (1973-06-27)[1] December 27, 1975 (1975-12-27) (re-release) | |||
| Recorded | October 1972[2] | |||
| Studio | Intermedia,Boston | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Steven Tyler | |||
| Producer(s) | Adrian Barber[1] | |||
| Aerosmith singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
| Music videos | ||||
| "Dream On" (audio) onYouTube | ||||
| "Dream On" (official live video) onYouTube | ||||
"Dream On" is apower ballad[3] by American rock bandAerosmith, from their 1973eponymous debut album.[4] Written by lead singerSteven Tyler, this song was their first major hit and became aclassic rock radio staple. Released in June 1973, it peaked at number 59 on theBillboard Hot 100[5] but hit big in the band's nativeBoston, where it was the number one single of the year onWBZ-FM, number five for the year onWRKO and number 16 onWMEX (AM).[citation needed] The song also received immediate heavy airplay on the formerWVBF (FM), often showing up in the #1 position on "The Top Five at Five" in June 1973.
The album version of "Dream On" (4:28, as opposed to the 3:25 197345 rpm edit where most of the intro has been edited out and the first chorus is replaced with the second chorus) was re-issued in late 1975, debuting at number 81 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart on January 10, 1976, breaking into the top 40 on February 14 and peaking at number 6 on April 10.[6]Columbia Records chose to service top 40 radio stations with both long and short versions of the song, thus many 1976 pop radio listeners were exposed to the group's first top 10 effort through the 45 edit.
In 2004,Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at number 172 on its list of the500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7] It was moved to number 173 in 2010,[8] and re-ranked at number 199 in 2021.[9] In 2007, Aerosmith would perform a re-recording of the song, among some of their other songs, for the gameGuitar Hero: Aerosmith as the master track was missing during the game's development.[10] In 2018, the song was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.[11] On November 29, 2023, the song surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.[12]
In a 2011 interview, Tyler reminisced about his father, aJuilliard-trained musician. He recalled lying beneath his dad's piano as a three-year-old listening to him play classical music. "That's where I got thatDream On chordage", he said. Lyrical composition was completed when Tyler was 14 years old.[13] The song is also famous for its building climax to showcase Tyler's trademark screams.
In the authorizedStephen Davis band memoirWalk This Way, Tyler speaks at length about the origins of the songs:[14]
The music for 'Dream On' was originally written on aSteinway upright piano in the living room of Trow-Rico Lodge inSunapee, maybe four years before Aerosmith even started. I was seventeen or eighteen. ... It was just this little thing I was playing, and I never dreamed it would end up as a real song or anything. ... It's about dreaming until your dreams come true.
Record World called it a "beauty which features strange melodic line and tight hard rock accompaniment" in 1973.[15] Then in 1975,Cash Box said that "the hard surface is there but Tyler's plaintive vocals and some economical muscular riffing make 'Dream On' a thinker as well as a mover."[16]
Upon the re-release of the single,Billboard listed it in its "Recommended LPs" section on January 3, 1976.[17]
In a later review,Stephen Thomas Erlewine commented about the song forAllMusic: "There was nothing quite like it in 1973, and it remains the blueprint for all power ballads since."[18]
| "Dream On (Live)" | |
|---|---|
| Single byAerosmith | |
| from the albumLast Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture | |
| Released | June 8, 1993 |
| Recorded | June 6, 1991 |
| Venue | MTV 10th Anniversary Special |
| Genre | Symphonic rock |
| Length | 5:42 |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Steven Tyler |
A concert staple, the song's piano part has been played live by Tyler. The band has also played "Dream On" with an orchestra on occasion. One of these performances, conducted byMichael Kamen, was performed live forMTV's 10th Anniversary[19] (in 1991) and included on the soundtrack for the filmLast Action Hero.
On September 19, 2006, Aerosmith dedicated the song to captured Israeli soldierEhud Goldwasser. On September 22, 2007, at a concert inAtlantic City, New Jersey, Aerosmith dedicated the song to one of their fans, Monica Massaro, who had been murdered earlier that year. On May 25, 2011, Tyler performed a brief rendition of the song live during the finale of thetenth season ofAmerican Idol.[20]
In 2006, Tyler andJoe Perry performed the song live with theBoston Pops Orchestra at their Fourth of July spectacular.[21] In August 2010, Tyler performed much of the song on a grand piano on top of theGreen Monster at an Aerosmith concert at Boston'sFenway Park, joined by the rest of the band to close out the song.[22] After theBoston Marathon bombing, Tyler performed the song at theBoston Strong concert in late May 2013.[23][24] In 2014, Tyler,Slash andTrain performed the song forHoward Stern's 60th Birthday Bash.[25]
In 2022, at rapperEminem'sRock and Roll Hall of Fame induction concert, Tyler performed the introductory line and the chorus to "Dream On" alongside Eminem as he performed his 2002 hit "Sing for the Moment", which uses the former's chorus as its chorus.[26]
The song has appeared on almost every Aerosmith greatest hits and live compilation, including:
It also appears on both of the band's box sets.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[44] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[45] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[46] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[47] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[48] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[49] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
| Streaming | ||
| Greece (IFPI Greece)[50] | Gold | 1,000,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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