Aerosmith

USA, 1970–now

Boston hard rock band led by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. The blues-derived riffing of Toys in the Attic and Rocks became a widely copied American hard rock template.

MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced Aerosmith and 8 artists Aerosmith influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Aerosmith?

• The Rolling Stones — The Stones' blues swagger was Aerosmith's founding template — the Tyler/Perry axis was built on the Jagger/Richards model.
• The Yardbirds — 'Train Kept A-Rollin'' — Aerosmith's signature song — is the Yardbirds' arrangement; Joe Perry has named Jeff Beck's Yardbirds his primary model.
• The Beatles — Aerosmith's hit cover of 'Come Together' (1978) is a documented act of Beatles devotion Tyler has affirmed in interviews.
• James Brown — Early Aerosmith sets covered James Brown's 'Mother Popcorn' — the funk undercurrent Tyler cites beneath 'Walk This Way'.
• Led Zeppelin — Zeppelin's heavy blues was the immediate benchmark for Aerosmith's sound — a debt the band and critics have documented from the first album on.

Which artists did Aerosmith influence?

• Poison — C.C. DeVille and Bret Michaels described their style as fusing Aerosmith's blues-inflected hard-rock riffs with Kiss's flair.
• Bon Jovi — Aerosmith's smooth, saucy hard-rock grooves are a direct model for Bon Jovi's fiercest melodies.
• Mötley Crüe — Aerosmith's 1970s hard rock was the sonic blueprint for Shout at the Devil-era Crüe.
• Guns N' Roses — Slash has called Rocks the album that changed his life; GN'R took the opening slot on Aerosmith's 1988 tour as an act of homage.
• Run-DMC — Run-DMC's genre-busting cover of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' (1986) — cut with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry — fused rap and rock and became the template for the crossover.
• Stone Temple Pilots — Aerosmith's swaggering hard rock is among the classic influences behind STP's riff-driven songs.
• Hanoi Rocks — The hard rock half of the same weld.
• Lord Tracy — And the third of them.