1973 Iconic Power Ballad, Named Among 'Top American Rock Songs' of All Time, Took Nearly Three Years to Become a Hit
"Dream On" is one of Aerosmith's best-known songs, but it took years for the famous power ballad to gain real traction across the United States.
The rock classic, written by frontman Steven Tyler, appeared on the band's self-titled debut album in June 1973. Featuring Joe Perry's explosive guitar work and Tyler's soaring vocals, the song became a true underdog anthem.
Ultimate Classic Rockranked "Dream On" as one of the top 50 American Rock songs of all time, noting that the Boston-based band's first single wasn't a hit right away. "It took a late-1975 reissue of the 1973 song to finally break ‘Dream On' into the Top 10, the band's first appearance there," the outlet recalled. "The now-hot Aerosmith seized the moment and rereleased the power ballad live favorite from their debut LP, a concert staple since."
"Dream On" failed to crack the Billboard Top 40 when it was first released and only went as far as No. 59 on the music chart in 1973.
Perry revealed that Aerosmith was almost dropped from their record label at the time. "We weren't selling records. 'Dream On' was released and didn't make a dent," he told Rock Cellar magazine in a 2026 interview. "I mean, even getting through the second record, they were going to drop us after the first record because it didn't do well. Right off the top, the ‘Dream On' single didn't take off. You know, that was the obvious single because it was a ballad, and that was the quickest route to get on the radio."
But it took nearly three years for "Dream On" to become a real radio hit. On April 10, 1976, the song gained a second life when it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to a reissue following the success of the band's third album, Toys in the Attic.
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The success of "Dream On" was a long time coming in another way. Tyler once told Rolling Stone he wrote the song years before he joined Aerosmith.
"When I wrote ‘Dream On,' I went, ‘Where did this come from?'" he recalled. "I didn't question it. When I read the lyrics back now, for a guy who was stoned, stupid, and dribbling, I got something out of there: ‘The past is gone/It went by like dusk to dawn.'"
Decades later, the rock legend still celebrates the song. In June 2018, as "Dream On" turned 45, Tyler posted to Twitter, now X, to share, "I wrote the music [to ‘Dream On'] when I was 17 on a pump organ in Sunapee, NH … Wrote the lyrics in 2 days at a hotel at Boston Logan Airport…Sang it live for the first time at the Shaboo Inn, CT… and got to sing it again tonight 45 years to the day of its release in Motor City USA. … If it weren't for the boys in Aero (and thank you [Boston radio station] WBCN), it never woulda seen the light of day."
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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 1:05 PM.