"Last Child" is a song performed by American hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

. It was written by Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler

Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...

 and Brad Whitford

Brad Whitford

Bradford Ernest Whitford is the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1970.-Career:...

. It was released as the first single from the band's hard rock album Rocks

Rocks (album)

Rocks is the fourth album by American rock band Aerosmith, released May 3, 1976. Allmusic described Rocks as having "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". Rocks also ranked #176 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time...

in 1976

1976 in music

-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....

. The song peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, one of many in a string of hit singles for the band in the mid-1970s.

Structure

The song is one of the most famous contributions of Brad Whitford to the band. Live, he plays a variation of the guitar solo as heard on the original recording. The song opens like a slow song, with the slow, careful playing of the guitar and Steven Tyler's dreamy lyrics. But then after 22 seconds, it abruptly changes to a hard rocking bluesy song, complete with a boogie background and two-guitar interplay between Brad Whitford

Brad Whitford

Bradford Ernest Whitford is the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock band Aerosmith. He graduated Reading Memorial High School in 1970.-Career:...

 and Joe Perry

Joe Perry (musician)

Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the rock band Aerosmith. He is influenced by many rock artists especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles...

, with Whitford playing the low notes of the song's riff on the verse and Perry playing funk chords higher up on the neck.

Legacy

Long after its release, "Last Child" continues to see regular airplay on rock radio stations and is regularly rotated into Aerosmith's concert setlist, even on their latest tour. In concert, it is often Brad Whitford's feature spot, in which Steven Tyler gives him an introduction with something like "Brad Whitford, what do you got to show for yourself?" or "What do you got up your sleeve?" Brad often does a little bit of an intro before playing the opening notes to the song.

"Last Child" has also been re-released on numerous Aerosmith compilations including Aerosmith's Greatest Hits, O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, and Devil's Got a New Disguise

Devil's Got a New Disguise

Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith is a compilation album by American hard rock band Aerosmith released on October 17, 2006. It has sold more than 265,048 copies to date in the U.S...

as well as numerous live collections including Live! Bootleg, Classics Live II, and A Little South of Sanity

A Little South of Sanity

-Personnel:*Tom Hamilton – bass*Joey Kramer – drums, percussion*Joe Perry – guitar, backing vocals, talkbox on "Sweet Emotion", pedal steel guitar on "Rag Doll"*Steven Tyler – lead vocals, percussion*Brad Whitford – guitar...

.

The song is one of Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

's most funk-based tracks, modeled after the band The Meters

The Meters

The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...

.

In other media

• It appears in Grown Ups
  Grown Ups (2010 film)
  Grown Ups is a 2010 American buddy-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider. Sandler and Fred Wolf wrote the script. The film was produced by Sandler's production company Happy Madison and was distributed by Columbia...
  
  .
• Cover version which uses a less deep tuning,closes with a lengthy solo and "home... sweet... home" verse repeates at the end instead of the recorded fade-out,appears in Guitar Hero II
  Guitar Hero II
  Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...
  
  .