Lightning Strikes (Aerosmith song)

Infobox Single
Name = Lightning Strikes
Artist = Aerosmith
from Album = Rock in a Hard Place
Released = 1982
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1981
Length = 4:26
Label = Columbia
Writer = Richie Supa
Producer = Jack Douglas, Steven Tyler
Chart position = * #21 (US Mainstream Rock Tracks)
Last single = "Remember (Walking in the Sand)"
(1980)
This single = "Lightning Strikes"
(1982)
Next single = "Let the Music Do the Talking"
(1985)

"Lightning Strikes" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the first and only single from the band's 1982 album "Rock in a Hard Place". It is notable as Aerosmith's only charting single from the lineup without guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, who were replaced by Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay after they left the band in 1979 and 1981 respectively.

The song was written by Richie Supa, a friend and collaborator of the band. Despite Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford leaving the band before the album's release, he can be heard playing the rhythm guitar parts on the song. The song was released as a promotional single to rock radio in 1982 and reached #21 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Music video

The band created one of their earliest actual music videos for MTV and other networks with this song. The music video flashes back and forth between the band performing in what appears to be a studio or small venue and then out on the streets, where the band members flash angry looks, and wield baseball bats, chains, knives, and other weapons, suggesting a fight is about to take place. The song also features fake lightning strikes during the transitions between the band's performance and the streets, and also baseball bats hitting unsuspecting melons in the air.