"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the second of four singles from the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. Bowing at #84 on 3 October 1987, the track reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 12 December 1987 - 2 January 1988, and #41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and #45 on the UK Singles Chart in 1987. It was re-released in early 1990 and peaked at #20. The song was written by lead singer Steven Tyler, lead guitarist Joe Perry and professional songwriter Desmond Child.

The song, which originally started out as "Cruisin' for a Lady", talks about a male with an effeminate appearance, who is mistaken for a female. Steven Tyler states in the book Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith: "One day we met Mötley Crüe, and they're all going, 'Dude!' Dude this and Dude that, everything was Dude. 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' came out of that session.".

According to an interview with Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe conducted for Swedish television, the title of the song originated from a New York bar crawl where Tyler and Neil had drinks at a bar where the waiters were dressed in women's clothes. This, according to Neil, prompted Tyler to comment; "Dude looks like a lady!". Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, in his book, The Heroin Diaries, claims that the song was specifically inspired by Neil.

Joe Perry came up with the chorus riff, and Tyler came up with the chorus refrain.

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