5 Classic Rock Duets That Cracked The Top 10

When one hears the word duets in music, that person might get an image of two R&B or pop singers belting out a tune since duets are pretty common in those genres. But there are a good number of stellar duets in classic rock that have been released, and some of them have cracked Billboard's top 10.

We chose these five songs because they're perfect examples of two highly talented artists being able to suspend their individual approach to music-making to provide enough artistic space for the other person to equally shine. This list of songs also shows the perfect melding of individual talents. That's because in some duets, despite having two singers, it's hard to hear each person's artistic choices, leaving the track with a lack of variety, as if it were sung by one person. But on the songs that we selected, it would be difficult to picture them without both artists' contribution, as each singer helps to raise the song to higher heights while leaving an indelible mark.

It's an all too familiar story: At least one person in a relationship tries to end things, but the other  keeps coming back around. Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1981 song, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," covers that ground. Nicks handles the first verse and sings about hearing the same promises from her partner repeatedly. "Baby, you come knockin' on my front door / Same old line you used to use before / I said yeah, well, what am I supposed to do? / I didn't know what I was gettin' into," she sings. 

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" — which we chose as one of Nicks' best solo songs that isn't "Edge of Seventeen" — lives on her debut solo album, "Bella Donna," and it became her first solo hit. The song was written by Tom Petty and Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell, and it peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1981, remaining on the chart for 21 weeks. But before the song became a hit, Petty and producer Jimmy Iovine had to convince Nicks that it belonged on "Bella Donna", because the LP lacked a true single. Nicks was concerned about having a song she didn't write on her first album, but she was happy she agreed in the end.

"He gave me 'Stop Dragging My Heart Around,'" Nicks once told Rolling Stone, referring to Petty. "Had he not given me that song, let me candidly tell you, 'Bella Donna' might not have been a hit. That song kicked 'Bella Donna' right into the universe." "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" helped push the album to number No. 1 on September 5, 1981.

It could definitely be said that Aerosmith was riding high in the mid-'70s since they had their first hit with "Dream On" in 1976" but by the early '80s the band wasn't doing so well, and guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford left over Tyler's drug use. What's more, Aerosmith's 1982 album, "Rock in a Hard Place," only peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard 200 chart. Meanwhile, over in another genre, Run-D.M.C. was on the rise after releasing their first two albums, their eponymous debut in 1984 and the "King of Rock" one year later.

Then, while working on their third album, "Raising Hell," producer Rick Rubin came to Run-D.M.C. with an idea about collaborating with Aerosmith to remake their 1975 cut "Walk This Way." The new version of the song not only became a smash, reaching the No. 4 spot on Billboard's Hot 100, but Rubin also introduced rap to a whole generation of rock fans. 

"I was looking for a way to bridge that gap in the story of finding a piece of music that was familiar [to rock fans] and already hip-hop-friendly so that on the hip-hop side it would make sense and on the non-hip-hop side you'd see it wasn't so far away," Rubin told The Washington Post.

Lita Ford certainly had a full-circle moment when she was writing "Close My Eyes Forever" with Ozzy Osbourne in her house, because the first show she ever attended was a Black Sabbath concert as a teenager. Ford became friends with Osbourne during her days with her band the Runaways, and she was also engaged to Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath's guitarist.

The friendship between Ford and Osbourne turned into musical chemistry, as their writing, as well as their vocals on the song, blended perfectly. Ford talked about the meaning of "Close My Eyes Forever" on the YouTube channel, Get on The Bus, and said Osbourne's lyrics came from his marital situation. "I personally think, at the time, Ozzy was going through some hardship with Sharon [Osbourne], drugs, and alcohol and a lot of things," Ford explained. "Basically, what he was saying was, 'After I'm dead, will you still love me? If I screw up so bad, will you still love me?'"

The duet ended up peaking at No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1989 and lived on the chart for a whopping 25 weeks, giving Ford the biggest hit of her career. It was the highest chart position for Osbourne as well, but he'd also land in the No. 8 spot 30 years later with Post Malone's song "Take What You Want," featuring Osbourne and rapper Travis Scott.

Some musical collaborations happen organically, and others are put together for a specific purpose, like "Almost Paradise," the song sung by Heart's Ann Wilson and Loverboy's Mike Reno. The cut was specifically for the "Footloose" soundtrack, the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer. Both rockers talked about the song with ALT AZ 93.3 host The Professor of Rock, and each has a different story.

"So I was asked to do this song," Reno said. "The song was written by Eric Carmen and Dean Pitchford for the movie. They said you can do it with whoever you want ... and I said, 'I'd like to do it with Ann Wilson.'" However, Wilson said she was recruited for the song by late producer Keith Olsen and was given the chance to choose a male singer. 

"They asked me to sing the song, and they gave me my choice," she explained. "They said, 'In a perfect world, which man would you like to sing with?' And I went, 'Paul Rodgers.'" Wilson went on to say that Rodgers wasn't available, and neither was Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant when she asked. But regardless of how the collaboration was birthed, "Almost Paradise" became a colossal-sized hit, reaching No. 7 on Billboard's Hot 100 and helping the "Footloose" soundtrack become one of the top-selling albums ever. 

Even though singer-songwriter Lorraine Crosby is highly associated with Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," she was never supposed to be on the 1993 single. The song's producer, Jim Steinman, signed Crosby and her husband Stuart Emerson to his management company, Arrested Development. Crosby was then asked to sing on the song's demo version when Steinman and Meat Loaf were working on it in the studio.

The single was always supposed to be a duet with a female singer, and Meat Loaf needed someone to fill that part during his vocal takes. In the end, though, Crosby's vocals remained on the final version, which she talked about with The Daily Telegraph in 2023. "This was never meant to be kept," Crosby explained. "This was just me helping out on the day." 

That's why Crosby isn't in the music video, and model Dana Patrick lip-synchs her part, something that bothered Crosby tremendously. Still, the cut went No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, a definite win for Crosby and Meat Loaf, despite many being confused about what the song really means.