"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" | ||||
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Single by Aerosmith | ||||
from the album Permanent Vacation | ||||
B-side |
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Released | September 22, 1987 1990 (re-issue) | |||
Recorded | 1987 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Bruce Fairbairn | |||
Aerosmith singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" on YouTube |
"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the lead single from the band's ninth studio album Permanent Vacation in 1987.
The track reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, number four on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 22 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. It was re-released in early 1990 and peaked at number 20 in the UK. It was certified gold in the UK for sales and streams exceeding over 400,000 units.
The song was written by lead singer Steven Tyler, lead guitarist Joe Perry and songwriter Desmond Child.
The song talks about a man who is mistaken for a woman. According to Desmond Child, Steven Tyler came up with the idea after mistaking Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil for a woman with long blonde hair. Tyler's bandmates made fun of him, joking about how the "dude looked like a lady". [8] In his book The Heroin Diaries , Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx concurs that the song was inspired by Neil.
"We were hailing a taxi in New York one night and these fucks, Mötley Crüe, pulled up in a limo. They called us in and every other word out of their mouths was 'dude'. You know, 'Yo dude! Your dude is really dude, dude.' I hadn't heard this crazy 'dude' shit before. We had just bought a sampler and we were listening to an Eddie Murphy album – the one where he keeps going on about Mr. T being gay… I kind of got a lick, but couldn't get the words. I had shit like, 'Cruisin' for the ladies,' or, 'My old lady's got rabies.' Bad stuff. Then I remembered my new word, 'dude'." – Steven Tyler [9]
Of "Cruisin' for the ladies", Child said, "I don't think Van Halen would put that on the B-side of their worst record." [10]
Joe Perry — who came up with the chorus riff – was concerned that the subject matter would offend the gay community, but Child said, "I'm gay, and I'm not insulted. Let's write this song." [11]
Every four or five year old child in America was able to sing that song. It was like, do you realize this is about a tranny? [12]
Despite the song's mainstream success, "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" has been accused of being transphobic, with "its lyrics and music video’s offensive insinuations about trans women." [8] In 2012, Child said, "I talked Aerosmith into the whole scenario of a guy that walks into a strip joint and falls in love with the stripper on stage, goes backstage and finds out it's a guy." [13] In 2019, Child confirmed that the song was about a man who "just walks into a bar and sees this gorgeous blonde up on the stage and then goes backstage after the show and then she 'whips out a gun, tries to blow me away.'" [10]
Vox 's Abbey White pointed out that "the song also plays on the idea that trans women intentionally deceive men or are 'in disguise', that they are unattractive or repulsive ... and at one point mixes pronouns, going from 'Oh she like it' in one line to 'Oh, he was a lady,' in the next." [8] [ irrelevant citation ]
Child has refuted all allegations of transphobia, describing the song as "accepting" because of the lyric, "Never judge a book by its cover, or who you're going to love by your lover." [10] [13]
On August 27, 2013, Fox News played this song while introducing Chelsea Manning. As well as the network's use of masculine pronouns and Manning's deadname, playing this song received backlash from commentators. [14]
After Caitlyn Jenner called "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" her "theme song" in 2017, backlash ensued from fans and from LGBT activists due to the perceived transphobia. [8]
Cash Box said that it has "humorous lyrics coupled with a driving rock beat." [15]
The video for "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" features the band performing live onstage as well as random moments of characters portraying drag queens, including a cameo appearance by A&R man John Kalodner dressed up in a wedding dress at one point. This is a joke based on the fact that Kalodner always dresses in white. Joe Perry's wife Billie also appears in the music video, pretending to play the saxophone on stage.
There are also some provocative sexual performances, both led by singer Steven Tyler as well as a presumed female who has her skirt torn off to reveal the Aerosmith "wings" tattoo on her buttocks. The video was directed by Marty Callner.
"Dude" picked up two MTV Video Music Award nominations in 1988 (the first for the band). It was nominated for Best Group Video and Best Stage Performance, but failed to gain the wins. The band made up for it eventually, winning over 10 "moon-men" and 4 Grammys in the 1990s.
Chart (1987–1988) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [16] | 22 |
UK Singles (OCC) [17] | 45 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [18] | 14 |
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [19] | 41 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [20] | 4 |
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
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UK Singles (OCC) [21] | 20 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [22] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
The song has long been a staple on both rock radio and in concert, as the band has regularly rotated it into their set lists over the years.
The song has been featured on a number of subsequent compilation albums by Aerosmith including 1994's Big Ones , 2002's O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits , 2006's Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith, and the 1998 live album, A Little South of Sanity .
Concurrent with its chart run, the song was played in the 1987 comedy film Like Father Like Son , starring Kirk Cameron and Dudley Moore.
Professional wrestler Roddy Piper appeared as a guest VJ on MTV shortly after the song's release. During one segment, the song's video was played, followed by a Michael Jackson video. Piper appeared afterward, repeatedly chanting "Dude looks like a lady!" in the manic fashion of a wrestling interview, intended more as a jab at Jackson than any reference to Aerosmith or the song.
In 1993, the song was prominently featured in the film Mrs. Doubtfire , during a montage of the main character bonding with his family in disguise as a woman. The song was also used in the film's TV ads. Randi Mayem Singer, the writer of Mrs. Doubtfire, credits "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" as one of the most important songs ever written and as the direct influence for writing the script. She was quoted as saying "Without ['Dude (Looks Like a Lady)'], there would be no Mrs. Doubtfire". [23] [24]
The song was also featured in the movie It's Pat where the title character (played by Julia Sweeney) sings a karaoke version at their wedding reception. The song fits in with the running joke throughout the film, in reference to Pat's gender ambiguity.
The song was performed live by the band in the movie, Wayne's World 2 , and is featured on the soundtrack for the film.
In "There's Something About Marrying" the tenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons , Veronica is singing the song while shaving as Marge accidentally discovers him as a man cross-dressed as a woman who is about to marry her sister Patty.
The video for "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" is featured on the karaoke game SingStar Vol. 2 for PlayStation 3.
Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira sang the song with Steven Tyler on MTV Icon and also included it on the set list of her Tour of the Mongoose.
The song is played as one of the possible song choices on Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios. [25]
The song is featured in the MTV animated series, Station Zero where DJ Tech played on his turntables.
Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums), and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. Aerosmith is sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is sometimes referred to as the "Toxic Twins".
Steven Victor Tallarico, known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, harmonica and percussion. He has been called the "Demon of Screamin'" due to his high screams and his powerful wide vocal range. He is also known for his on-stage acrobatics. During his performances, Tyler usually dresses in colorful, sometimes androgynous outfits and makeup with his trademark scarves hanging from his microphone stand.
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