5 Best Duets In Classic Rock History

It was always exciting when two powerhouse classic rock acts joined forces to produce a duet that set your speakers and eardrums on fire. Indeed, the synergy from the best duets in classic rock history felt like finding a bonus prize at the bottom of the cereal box. The prospects were thrilling enough when artists who shared a similar sphere, such as David Bowie and Mick Jagger, found a song on which they could apply their complementary skills. And when an unexpected collab from two entirely different musical worlds like Aerosmith and Run-DMC wove their distinctive sounds into a unified banger, it was enough to blow minds and push the classic rock envelope into uncharted territory. 

Our picks for history's best classic rock duets dip into a variety of genres, from country-tinged love songs and soaring arena anthems to soulful covers and history-making rock-rap crossovers. The list shows off the diverse ways in which duets came together in the classic rock era — sometimes as a love song, sometimes as a party jam, but always standing as a showcase for the premium talents involved.

The teenage hormones rage in the humorously dramatic "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," which unfurls like an epic musical walk down memory lane, with Meat Loaf and Ellen Foley playing out a passionate first-time encounter where the details are a little hazy. The song changes character, tempo, and voice, and there's even a radio broadcast of a baseball game that follows the main character's run around the baseball diamond of backseat love.

Humor leads the narrative; Meat Loaf's enthusiastic recounting of what happened that long-ago night smacks of carnal teenage yearning. "Though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night," he and Foley sing as the chorus peaks, "I can see paradise by the dashboard light." Then it drops a clever two-liner that songwriter Jim Steinman would become famous for: "Ain't no doubt about it, we were doubly blessed / 'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed." But before the pair can do the deed, Foley asks whether Meat loves her, prompting his hilarious response, "Let me sleep on it / I'll give you an answer in the morning."

The narrative is all horny high school kitsch, the composition is pure rock opera, and the finished product is a rollicking classic rock duet that feels like theater for the ears. It was also a career high before Meat Loaf hit a sophomore slump that was anything but paradise.

With "Under Pressure," two of the most glam-tastic rockers of the '70s, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, merged their voices into a single unforgettable power-driven tune, which was created as a one-off and added to Queen's "Greatest Hits" collection (also appearing on the band's "Hot Space" album). The tune was an incidental creation that sprang to life when Bowie visited Queen's recording session in Montreux, Switzerland. The five musicians were toodling around with ideas when bassist John Deacon tossed out the two-note bass line that became iconic. Bowie latched on, and after a fraught session filled with creative sparks and a bit of a power struggle, the jam session produced the magical backing tracks. A bit of vocal improv from Bowie and Mercury conjured each singer's version of what the lyrics should be, before Bowie took over mixing responsibilities.

Not all superstar pairings result in finished works with as much fortuitous musical firepower as "Under Pressure" did. Its initial No. 1 success in the U.K. and Top 40 performance in the U.S. have echoed through the decades to remind us all how powerful a piece it is. It's among the David Bowie songs that sound cooler today and a career peak for Freddie Mercury and his Queen cohorts.  

Two of the most successful singers of the '80s, Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty, got the decade started with "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," a snarling duet that would turn out to be a high point in both careers — and an auspicious beginning to Nicks' lengthy solo career. The Heartbreakers were on board to make the backing tracks shine behind Nicks and Petty's throaty vocals, with the two exchanging lyrical accusations like throwing stars. "I know you really wanna tell me goodbye," Petty taunts, "I know you really wanna be your own girl." Then Nicks tosses harmonic gasoline on the inferno of a chorus: "Baby, you could never look me in the eye / Yeah, you buckle with the weight of the word / Stop draggin' my, stop draggin' my / Stop draggin' my heart around." 

When Nicks was planning her first solo album, "Bella Donna," she asked Petty to produce and to write a song they could perform together. Petty's first offering, "Insider," ended up being a keeper Petty couldn't let go of; it appeared as a duet on the Heartbreakers' album "Hard Promises." Petty's second offering would become a No. 3 smash, igniting Nicks' work outside of Fleetwood Mac and introducing a timeless classic rock love song that became one of Nicks' defining duets.

Call Bowie the king of the classic rock duet. His long-lived friendship with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger made them into the elder statesmen of the classic rock generation, which made them perfect partners for a jaunty reinterpretation of "Dancing in the Street," the vintage Motown bop from 1964 that Martha Reeves and the Vandellas took all the way to the No. 2 spot. The Bowie-Jagger version reached No. 7 in the U.S. and spent four be-bopping weeks at No. 1 in the U.K.

The duet came together as a contribution to the 1985 Live Aid concert. Van Halen had already released a cover three years earlier, which made this seem a bit redundant. But the sunny horns and bouncy rhythm of the Bowie-Jagger remake proved to be a more faithful take on the original. Instead of performing live, Bowie and Jagger shot a rambunctious, high-energy music video for the song that became a high point of the MTV-saturated '80s. Seeing these ordinarily rock-oriented singers cut loose with a sugary slice of R&B fun gave their fans a glimpse of the icons' more human sides. It also showed off the endearingly awkward dance moves of both rockers and helped charm audiences, some of whom still consider this classic rock duet the definitive take on the song.

A classic rock duet featuring two entire bands and introducing the rock world to the power of rap? It was an audio lightning strike when Aerosmith and Run-DMC joined forces in 1986 to recreate what had already been a No. 10 hit for Steven Tyler and crew in 1977. This time, the collab generated enough innovative heat to land both acts a No. 4 smash while demonstrating the invigorating fusion that was possible between rock and rap.

At the time "Walk This Way" became a cross-generational phenomenon that merged genres and audiences, Aerosmith was in need of a jumpstart. Run-DMC was assembling their third album, "Raising Hell," when producer Rick Rubin brainstormed a rock-hip-hop crossover that could pull new listeners in the group's direction. It only took a little convincing to get risk-taking Aerosmith leaders Tyler and Joe Perry on board, and letting the rappers give the lyrics a modern update helped freshen up the vibe.

Once it caught fire, "Walk This Way" went all the way to No. 4, helping revive Aerosmith for an amazing comeback and giving Run-DMC their highest-charting hit ever. It's also one of the most buoyant team-ups in the combined world of classic rock and rap music.