Aerosmith rocked the Grammys stage on Sunday night with some help from some old friends.
The legendary band, who was without drummer Joey Kramer, performed their classic song “Walk This Way” with Run-DMC.
The four-time Grammy-winning Aerosmith, honored at this year’s ceremony as MusiCares Person of the Year, initially took the stage after being introduced by Common, performing their 1993 hit “Livin’ on the Edge.”
At one point, frontman Steven Tyler waded toward the audience and let Lizzo join in singing before he came back on the stage, next to guitarist Joe Perry to launch into “Walk This Way.” The song was a hit in the ‘70s before enjoying a second life in 1986 and revitalizing the band’s career when they teamed up with Run-DMC, who covered it, making it one of the first tracks to marry the rock and rap genres.
So, naturally, the rap group's two remaining members, Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, joined Aerosmith onstage for the performance. Jason William Mizell, also known as Jam Master Jay, died in 2002.
Tyler performed the first few lines of the song before he stopped.
“Whoa, whoa, wait. What’s happening?” he asked.
“Let’s try something a little different, Steven,” Perry said before Simmons and McDaniels knocked down a set of fake bricks — much like they did in the popular video of their cover — on another stage as the crowd went wild upon realizing it was them.
Simmons and McDaniels started rapping and Tyler joined in the song while belting out the signature “walk this way” in the chorus, as Perry continued to shred.
As the song went on, Simmons held up a white Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers jersey with his No. 24, in memory of the late NBA star, who died in a helicopter crash earlier Sunday.
The performance was still going full throttle when Tyler pulled up two young women from the crowd and danced with them onstage before calling it quits.
“Let's get out of here!” he shouted as the song came to a close.