Liner Notes · No. 008
"Walk This Way" by Run-DMC featuring Aerosmith: the B-side
Quick hall pass: a rap trio that didn't want the song took it higher than the band that wrote it. Then the Super Bowl, Guitar Hero and two British girl groups all wanted a turn. Here's the B-side.
On this record
TRACK 1 · The cameo
Britney, the Super Bowl and a plastic guitar
Aerosmith handed it to Britney at the 2001 Super Bowl, and Guitar Hero turned DMC into a playable plastic-guitar hero.
Keep readingShow less
The halftime show: January 28, 2001, Super Bowl XXXV. Aerosmith played halftime and backed Britney Spears on "Walk This Way," in a show that also starred *NSYNC. Aerosmith's own song, handed to a teen-pop star, with a boy band on deck. The year 2001 did not believe in restraint.
The video game: In 2008, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith put Run-DMC's "Walk This Way" and "King of Rock" on the setlist, and made DMC a playable character. He takes over lead vocals on those two songs, and you can also play him as a guitarist. A man who rapped over a rock band ended up as a rock band. In plastic. With colored buttons.
The homage: When two British girl groups covered it for charity in 2007, their video paid tribute to the original's whole idea: two acts, one wall, knock it down. More on how that went over on Side B.
But first, a test. The title isn't from a rap ad-lib or a rock riff. Quiz time.
Where did the title "Walk This Way" come from?
If you watched the pop-ups, this one is a gift.
That's Side A. Flip the tape.
Side B is where it gets weird:
- The 1986 studio footage, the 2020 Grammys wall, and the "final" show at Yankee Stadium.
- The covers: a bluegrass jam band, a hillbilly tribute act, Macy Gray, and a British girl-group pileup that went to #1.
- Aerosmith's EP with Yungblud, and the two bands booked together at the Hollywood Bowl this fall.
Free, every Tuesday. One song, the story you never heard, and a 10-minute hall pass from the doomscroll. Already subscribed? Enter your email to unlock.
▶ SIDE B
TRACK 2 · The live one
The wall keeps coming back
From the 1986 studio session to a fake brick wall at the 2020 Grammys. Run-DMC's 2023 Yankee Stadium show was billed as their last.
Keep readingShow less
The studio: In 1986, MTV News filmed Aerosmith and Run-DMC in the studio recording the song together. The archive clip is still on YouTube: proof that Queens and Boston once shared a room on purpose.
Camden, 2002: On September 7, 2002, Aerosmith brought Run-DMC and Kid Rock onstage for "Walk This Way" at the Tweeter Center in Camden, New Jersey, according to fan uploads of the show. It was weeks before Jam Master Jay's death.
The Grammys, 2020: January 26, 2020, at the 62nd Grammys, where Aerosmith were MusiCares Person of the Year. Run-DMC broke through a fake brick wall onstage to join them on the song. Thirty-four years later, still billing for drywall. Drummer Joey Kramer was absent, so the wall was the only thing getting hit on schedule.
The last bow: August 11, 2023, Run and DMC closed the Hip-Hop 50 Live concert at Yankee Stadium, billed as the group's final live performance. Billed. File that word away for Track 4.
TRACK 3 · Cover watch
Bluegrass, hillbillies and a girl-group pileup
Bluegrass, hillbilly and Macy Gray versions, then a UK charity #1 that later made a worst-songs-of-the-2000s list. Efficient.
Keep readingShow less
- 1997 · The String Cheese Incident. The jam band gave the verses and chorus a bluegrass flavor on a live album. Somewhere a banjo learned what a breakbeat was, and did not like it.
- 2002 · Hayseed Dixie. It landed on their album A Hillbilly Tribute to Mountain Love. DMC once called the lyrics hillbilly gibberish. Hayseed Dixie took him literally.
- 2004 · Macy Gray. Released first as a download, later on her greatest-hits compilation. A download. In 2004. Ask your kids what that was.
- 2007 · Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud. The official Comic Relief single, out March 12, 2007. It debuted at #1 in the UK on about 51,500 copies, got bumped from the top by Peter Kay and Matt Lucas's "500 Miles," and later made a Village Voice list of the worst songs of the 2000s. Number one and worst-of-the-decade. Efficient.
▶ WATCH THE CONTENDERS
Battle of the versions: which "Walk This Way" wins?
Cast your vote. Results in the next issue. Choose carefully: we're judging you.
TRACK 4 · Where are they now
Where Aerosmith and Run-DMC are now
Aerosmith retired from touring in 2024 after Tyler's larynx injury, but kept recording. Run-DMC is on the guest list for this fall's Hollywood Bowl shows.
Keep readingShow less
Aerosmith: The Peace Out farewell tour stopped after three shows in 2023, when Steven Tyler fractured his larynx. In August 2024 the band retired from touring.
Tyler kept singing anyway: In July 2025 he sang at Ozzy Osbourne's Back to the Beginning farewell concert. On November 21, 2025, Aerosmith and Yungblud released One More Time, a five-track EP led by "My Only Angel," with a new mix of "Back in the Saddle." Retired from touring, not from recording. Rock stars read the fine print.
Run-DMC: Billed as done after Yankee Stadium in 2023. Then October 29 and November 1, 2026: "California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends" is booked at the Hollywood Bowl, with Run-DMC on the guest list alongside Heart, Billy Idol and Slash. Farewells in rock and rap are more of a suggestion.
Collect hall passes
Share HallPass with friends. 1 makes you a Hall Monitor (power, finally), 3 lets you pick a future Pop-Up Edition, 5 puts your name in the credits.
🎧 Hidden track: know a version we missed? Reply to any HallPass email. The best finds go in the next Liner Notes, with your name on them.
🎟️ Want it to count toward your passes? Use the personal link at the bottom of any HallPass email. That's the one that tracks your friends.
Now playing
