The Classic Rock Band That Hit No. 1 in 1998 During a Pop Landslide

If you were to look back at the songs that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998, you might think that the vaunted chart only tracked pop offerings. If you had no experience with the list and didn’t look at past years and past decades, you would rightly conclude that the Hot 100 doesn’t look at artists outside of the pop category.

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But that’s because there was only one rock song from 1998 to claim the top spot that entire year. The rest of the artists on the list include (talented) names like Usher, Janet Jackson, Will Smith, Mariah Carey, Barenaked Ladies, and Brandy, among others. All pop! Here below, however, we wanted to look at that one classic rock band that did hit No. 1. Why? Because we just love classic rock!

July 1

On July 1, 1998, dead in the center of summer, the latest blockbuster movie to hit theaters in America was Armageddon. That movie starred Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler, among many other big names. And the plot featured a bunch of roughnecks from an ocean oil rig who are recruited by the government and then sent to space to destroy a giant asteroid headed for Earth. Yay! While the movie grossed over $550 million dollars (with a $140 million budget), perhaps the biggest breakout from the movie was its theme song, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, by Aerosmith.

September 5

Want proof that the Aerosmith tune was a major sensation? Well, their movie theme song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 starting on September 5, 1998—a few months after Armageddon first hit theaters. The tune stayed there for the entire month of September. Indeed, as kids went back to school, the song they most heard on the radio and on television was Aerosmith. While pop acts garnered a lot of attention in 1998, Aerosmith held the top spot on the Hot 100. After the rock band fell out of No. 1, acts like Monica, Barenaked Ladies, and Lauryn Hill took their place.

The Tyler Family

The success of both the movie and the song was a boon for the Tyler family—especially Aerosmith lead vocalist Steven and his daughter Liv, who was one of the stars of Armageddon (indeed her face was one of three on the movie poster). The family that entertains together becomes cultural icons together. In later years, Liv would star in other films, including the Lord of the Rings series. But in 1998 it was good to be part of the Tyler fam!

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