Aerosmith released the single “Pink” to U.S. contemporary hit radio on November 11, 1997, through Columbia. The track from Nine Lives arrived at pop radio with a head start: it had already reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart that September. Its harmonica and bluesy rhythm supported a song built around Steven Tyler’s sexual wordplay, but finishing the recording had involved considerably more upheaval.
Tyler wrote “Pink” with Richie Supa and Glen Ballard. In his 2011 memoir, Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?, excerpted by Ultimate Classic Rock, Tyler recalled working with Supa at the Marlin Hotel in South Beach, Florida. He preferred writing through the night, turning the lights off when daylight came through the window. The lyrics developed through his habit of singing improvised sounds before finding words that fit. Supa suggested calling the song “Kink”; Tyler rejected that title, although the word survived in the finished lyric.
The Miami sessions were part of Aerosmith’s work with Ballard on Nine Lives, the follow-up to Get a Grip. Writing songs and completing the album turned out to be different challenges. Drummer Joey Kramer took a leave of absence, and Steve Ferrone stepped in for the early recordings. In a 2001 Billboard interview, Ballard recalled the predicament: “We’re ready to go, most of the songs are written, and we have no drummer.” He said they had recorded much of the album and begun overdubs before Kramer was ready to return. Aerosmith then wanted to record it again with their own drummer.
With Kramer back, the band moved the project to New York and started rerecording with Kevin Shirley. They also had to reduce more than two dozen songs to the 13 selected for the U.S. album. “Pink” made that cut, retaining Ballard’s songwriting contribution even as the production changed hands. The completed Nine Lives, Aerosmith’s twelfth studio album, reached U.S. stores in March 1997.
The single campaign gave listeners more than one version of “Pink.” Columbia’s U.S. promotional CD paired the Top 40 South Beach Mix with the album version. The November pop-radio push followed both the song’s appearance on the album and its success at rock radio, giving it another stage in a campaign that crossed formats. It eventually reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Director Doug Nichol gave “Pink” a visual identity built around bodies and faces that wouldn’t stay put. Band members and other characters move toward the camera while digital effects exchange heads and bodies, turning the performance into a procession of impossible combinations. The video won Best Rock Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.
The recording received its own major award in 1999, when “Pink” won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammys. It was Aerosmith’s fourth Grammy, following wins for “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “Livin’ on the Edge” and “Crazy.”
