Aerosmith, Dude (Looks Like A Lady) | Controversial Songs

In the 11th edition of Controversial Songs (2025), we explore the controversy behind the “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” by Aerosmith.

Bring on the controversy! Controversial Songs is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows, stirred the pot, or were banned. The more censorship censor$hit, the better! The records that grace Controversial Songs are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  In the 11^th edition of Controversial Songs (2025), we explore the controversy behind the “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” by Aerosmith.

“That dude looks like a lady.” Whoa, whoa, woah! Aerosmith took a risk with “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)”.  “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” graces their 1987 album, Permanent Vacation. A song about referencing an androgynous, transgender person in the Regan era was bold.  The inspiration for the song was Vince Neil, who Steven Tyler (1948 – ) mistook for a blonde-haired lady at a bar. Neil was ‘pretty’ for a rock star, and androgyny has always been part of the picture. Navigating gender issues naturally elevates the level of controversy, even if the said song doesn’t suffer major repercussions or censorship. There were far fewer LGBTQ+ songs back then, but Tyler and Joe Perry (1950 –  ), with the help of songwriter Desmond Child (1953 – ), delivered one of their own.  Child is gay himself but wasn’t ‘out’ when “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” was recorded. The late, Grammy-nominated, Canadian producer Bruce Fairbairn (1949 – 1999) produced it.

Following the chorus, “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” remains bold. “Cruise into a bar on the shore / Her picture graced the grime on the door,” Tyler sings in the first verse.  The cruise lyric is worth mentioning because the song was originally named  “Cruisin’ for the Ladies.” In the second, we get the spiciest lyrics. Taken with this ‘lady,’ Steven sings, “Somebody said / ‘Forgive me if I seem out of line’ / And she whipped out a gun and tried to blow me away.”  Yes, the gun is a ‘natural’ gun – one between the legs . Following the ‘big reveal,’ Tyler takes a progressive stance.  “Never judge a book by its cover / Or who you gonna love by your lover,” he sings in the third verse, concluding, “She had the body of Venus, Lord, imagine my surprise.” By the bridge, “He was a lady.”

“Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” is an intriguing record, one that leaves me speechless .  Yes, it rocks, instrumentally, as well as the big-time chorus, but is it a song that the band or any band would record in the 2020s? Doubtful. Is it transphobic? I do not think so, but, opinions vary, particularly if you are a trans individual.  I am not, therefore I cannot speak for someone who is trans – it is not my job to tell them how to feel.  There is more nuance regarding gender and sexuality in music, more often than not performed by members of the LGBTQ community.  One thing that “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” does well is initiate important conversation.

Aerosmith // Permanent Vacation // Geffen // 1987

Aerosmith, Dude (Looks Like A Lady): Controversial Songs No. 11 (2025) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Geffen; Andrea Mosti from Pexels; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay; christian buehner on Unsplash]