Honoring the rock legends.
It’s safe to say that Eric Church is no stranger to taking on some challenging covers throughout his career. In just 2017 alone on his iconic Holdin’ My Own Tour, the Chief took on classic covers from a wide array of artists, ranging from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Bob Seger to Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jim Croce.
That’s not even including other wildcard covers throughout the years, like Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” Pearl Jam’s “Better Man,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” (you read that right), Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” and countless of others.
Last night in Los Angeles, Church did what he does best and delivered another stellar cover from none other than Aerosmith.
The legendary rock band is in the midst of a reunion of sorts, with their two-night “Aerosmith & Friends: California Dream On” event launching its first night on October 29th and returning again on Sunday, November 1, at the historic Hollywood Bowl. And they aren’t going in alone.
Across the two-nights they’re joining with the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Black Crowes, RUN DMC, Heart, Andrew Watt, Billy Idol, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains, Mike Inez (Alice In Chains), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Pat Monahan (Train), Sammy Hagar, Steve Stevens, Sully Erna (Godsmack), Tom Morello, Adam Wakeman, Audley Freed, Kenny Aronoff, Marcus King and the one and only Church.
Yesterday, during night one, Aerosmith fans were treated to performances from the likes of Billy Idol, Guns N’ Roses, the Black Crowes, Heart, Sammy Hagar, Godsmack, Heart, an extended sit-in from Dave Grohl on drums with the band and much more.
After Hagar delivered performances of “Draw The Line” and “Helter Skelter” and Heart covered the likes of “Never Loved A Man” and “Janie’s Got A Gun,” Church would take the stage midway through the set and deliver covers of their classic ballad, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” as well as “Ragdoll.”
Of course, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” has remained one of Aerosmith’s most popular songs in their legendary discography. Despite being released later in their career, dropping in 1998 as the theme song for the 1998 science fiction disaster film Armageddon, which starred Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s daughter, Liv Tyler, it became one of their biggest hits.
In fact, the track became their first and only all-genre #1 here in the U.S., debuting at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and staying there for four weeks. Additionally, it would top the charts in a plethora of different countries, including the likes of Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway and more. Simply put, it’s nothing short career-defining track for the rock legends.
In typical Church fashion, he puts his own spin on it here. Though the production is the same as the epic original, with the backing band sounding as good as ever, the “Springsteen” singer delivers a fairly interesting vocal performance, including some of his signature snarls and gritty deliveries.
If you’re a fan of Church and Aerosmith, this is nothing short of a must watch.
“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
