3 Classic Rock Bands Who Had Comebacks With a No. 1 Hit

A No. 1 hit really can change everything, even if you’ve been in the game for a while. Here are three classic rock groups that had comebacks thanks to killer songs that topped the charts.

Aerosmith

In 1998, Aerosmith had their first and only No. 1 in the US with “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”. Before that, the band had achieved Top 10 success with songs like “Dream On” and “Walk This Way”. Scoring a No. 1 after 25 years of playing was definitely a surprise for the group.

While talking with Short List, writer Dianne Warren explained what makes the song such a great power ballad.

“…I mean I’m imagining the power ballads like ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’ where people are screaming them in karaoke bars, singing them badly, drinking and singing them badly — they’re just fun songs to sing really,” she shared. “They have melodies… the ones that have lasted are really good songs, you can’t take that away. Even the cheesy ones, even some of my cheesy ones… I guess what makes it cheesy is it’s relatable… I don’t know.”

Santana

When Santana released Supernatural in 1999, the group hadn’t had a hit since 1982 with “Hold On”. The lead single off the project, “Smooth”, gave them not only a No. 1 hit but also the first No. 1 hit of the new millennium. 

The Beach Boys

When The Beach Boys released “Kokomo”, they made it to No. 1 for the first time in 22 years. The song was featured in the movie Cocktail, which starred Tom Cruise. It’s about a place you go to escape. 

“The verses and the verse lyric was written by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas,” Mike Love explained to SongFacts. “He wrote ‘Off the Florida Keys, there’s a place called Kokomo, that’s where we used to go to get away from it all.’ I said, ‘Hold on. We used to go sounds like an old guy lamenting his misspent youth.’ So I just changed the tense there. ‘That’s where you want to go to get away from it all…‘”

Photo by: Steve Granitz/WireImage