Aerosmith – Cryin’

The Thriller Star Who Tripled Their Sales And Launched A Trilogy

Released on June 29, 1993, as the third single from the album Get a Grip, “Cryin'” reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Cash Box Top 100. The song topped charts in Norway, hit number three in Iceland, Portugal, and Sweden, and reached number 17 in the UK. Gold certification came for selling over 500,000 copies in the United States. For a band whose first single from the album had underwhelmed commercially, this power ballad became their salvation, though it had little to do with the song itself and everything to do with a 16-year-old actress director Marty Callner discovered in a trashy psychological thriller called The Crush.

The single propelled Get a Grip to multi-platinum status and helped rescue Aerosmith’s tour after their opening act Megadeth got fired following six shows when Dave Mustaine allegedly blew his nose on an Aerosmith shirt onstage. Steven Tyler’s comment became legendary: he asked Mustaine which way he came in because they wanted to help him out. The album’s first single had been a big-budget bore, but this track showcased what the band did best. The music video became MTV’s most requested clip of 1993 and won Video of the Year, Viewer’s Choice, and Best Group Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Alicia Silverstone later told Rolling Stone that Aerosmith made a hell of a lot of money off the video, claiming their sales tripled or something, adding they would have been crazy not to ask her back.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Taylor Rhodes wrote the track, with Tyler describing it as country music that they just Aerosmith’d into their signature sound. The composition began with a different approach than their typical hard rock formula, building around a tender piano-driven foundation before incorporating electric guitars and drums. Tyler’s raspy vocals navigate between vulnerability and power, creating the dynamic tension that made their ballads successful throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. The song told a story of heartbreak and moving on, though the video would completely reimagine that narrative into something far more rebellious and empowering. What started as a straightforward power ballad became the canvas for one of MTV’s most iconic visual narratives.

The recording sessions for Get a Grip took place in 1992 and early 1993, though specific studio locations remain undocumented in available sources. Producer Bruce Fairbairn, who had previously worked with the band on Permanent Vacation and Pump, helmed the album sessions that generated three consecutive hit singles. The arrangement featured Tyler’s piano work alongside Perry’s guitar, creating layers that built from intimate verses into arena-ready choruses. The production maintained the polished sound that had defined their commercial resurgence since 1987 while incorporating enough grit to satisfy longtime fans who remembered their rawer 1970s work. Alan Jones from Music Week gave it three out of five stars, calling it a high-octane performance and the best song from the album.

Director Marty Callner filmed the music video at Central Congregational Church in Fall River, Massachusetts, for the band performance footage, intercut with narrative scenes starring Alicia Silverstone as a teenage girl discovering independence after catching her boyfriend cheating. Stephen Dorff played the scuzzy ex-boyfriend while future Lost star Josh Holloway appeared as a purse thief who Silverstone’s character chases down and defeats. The video became famous for the navel piercing scene, which cultural historians credit with introducing belly button piercings to mainstream American culture. The climax featured Silverstone staging an elaborate fake suicide attempt on an overpass, revealing a bungee cord as she dangles over traffic while giving Dorff the middle finger. MTV censored the gesture by blurring her hand.

The video launched what became known as the Alicia Silverstone Trilogy, with follow-up clips for “Amazing” in late 1993 and “Crazy” in 1994 cementing her as MTV’s reigning video star. Director Amy Heckerling told Rolling Stone she went cuckoo bananas when she saw Silverstone in the video, leading directly to her casting in Clueless, which made Silverstone a household name. Callner later reflected that the Silverstone videos marked the first time a woman served as protagonist in rock videos rather than as a sexual object, calling it a deliberate shift from his earlier work with Whitesnake and Scorpions. The video remained in heavy MTV rotation throughout 1993 and 1994, becoming synonymous with the era when music videos could still create genuine cultural moments and launch film careers.

Sometimes salvation arrives from unexpected places. A band releases a disappointing first single, fires their opening act, and watches their new album struggle despite an admirably moronic cow udder cover. Then a director sees a teenager slap Cary Elwes at a charity ball in a forgettable thriller and decides she’s the answer. Three minutes and 52 seconds later, sales triple, MTV surrenders, and a future movie star gets discovered while dangling from a bridge flipping off her ex-boyfriend. That’s not strategy or calculation. That’s the kind of accident that only happens when someone trusts their instincts enough to cast a 16-year-old unknown in the most important video of their comeback, then lets her steal the entire show without a single note sung.