How Barbra Streisand and James Brolin inspired hit 'Armageddon' song

Stephen Proctor

On the 20/20: Romance Special, Diane Warren, a nine-time Oscar nominee for best original song, talked about her inspiration for one of the ’90s most memorable movie ballads, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” from the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. In a 1997 Barbara Walters interview with Barbra Streisand and fiancé James Brolin, Streisand said, “We were just about to fall asleep and he says, ‘I don’t want to fall asleep.’ So I say, ‘Why not?’ And he says, ‘Because I’ll miss you.’” And so the idea was born, though Warren didn’t immediately pen the tune.

“It was an interview about how he misses her when she sleeps — like he can’t wait to see her,” Warren said. “I wrote down the title; I didn’t write the song. Then when Armageddon came up, they needed a song and I was like, ‘This is the time to write this song.’”

Aerosmith recorded “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” for the film and earned their first No. 1 hit in the band’s long history. They also performed it at the 1999 Oscars.

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