In a recent interview with People, Desmond Child talked about the backgrounds of some songs from his catalog, mentioning his involvement in Aerosmith’s ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady).’ He shared the differing opinions of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry about his input on the song by saying:
“It’s funny, Steven Tyler played down my contribution to the song in his memoir and said, ‘Well, we already had the song written, and Desmond just added a few words here and there.’ Joe Perry said the opposite. He said in his autobiography that I had come up with the title ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady),’ and that wasn’t true either. I wouldn’t take credit for that. It was Steven’s title. I just had to drag him towards the title because they were starting to go with ‘Cruising for the Ladies’ instead of ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady).'”
About the song’s storyline, the producer went on:
“I think I told them, ‘I don’t think Van Halen would put that on the B-side of their worst record,’ hoping they would laugh, and they didn’t laugh, but I managed to get them to go with the storyline, which was so far ahead of its time. The second verse says, ‘Never judge a book by its cover or who you’re going to love by your lover,’ and I think that’s a beautiful thought. They used that verse in ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ when Mrs. Doubtfire did the broom dance imitating Tom Cruise.”
He also recalled a chat with Tyler about the track:
“Later, Steven came to my studio and sang a song called ‘Red, White & You.’ That was written by one of my writers, and he got in there and sang it for his solo album. I told him the true story of ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady),’ and he stood there looking at me, and then he said, ‘I like your story better than mine.'”
Child shared the creation of ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady)’ in past interviews, revealing that the Aerosmith vocalist wanted to change the song title to avoid offending the LGBTQ+ community. While he told Celebrity Access that the singer changed his mind after some discussions, the producer revealed the inspiration behind the track in 2021 by saying:
“We basically told the story that he had told me … he had gone into a club and saw this gorgeous creature at the end of the bar with teased-up platinum mullet and black nails and porcelain skin and jewelry and with a curvy waist. Then the creature turns around, and it’s Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe. Then they were like, ‘My God, that dude looks like a lady.'”
You can listen to ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady)’ below.