Steven Tyler Rolls With Ali McManus For Cover Of Aerosmith Classic

10-28-2018

(Kayos) Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler makes a special cameo appearance in singer/songwriter Ali McManus' band new music video for "Roll This Way", her reworking of the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way. We were sent the following details:

Due to a rare bone disorder, McManus has been in a wheelchair since the age of seven. As she has addressed on the title track of Unbreakable, people tend to see the wheelchair before they see her.

Where "Unbreakable" laments that shortsightedness, "Roll This Way" knocks down the walls, breaking the stigma and revealing Ali's feisty, vivacious nature. "Roll This Way" is a cheeky statement that Ali won't let anything stop her from having a good time and living life to the fullest. After all, she IS a young woman in her early twenties.

So how does Steven Tyler feel about this take on the classic Aerosmith song? Considering he makes a cameo in the video, pushing Ali in her chair while singing along to "Roll This Way," he very much approves! In fact, Ali wrote the song after her producer Jack Douglas, who famously worked with Aerosmith, told her the story of recording "Walk This Way." Her response: "I can't 'Walk This Way,' but I can 'Roll This Way!'"

In this new recording, with all new lyrics including her clever replacement of the phrase "just give me a kiss" to "just give me a push," Ali serves up a new kind of fearless inspiration for those navigating disabilities.

In the video, Ali is hanging with her girlfriends, cruising around LA in a 1969 cherry Buick convertible and taking over a roller rink while "skating" with friends. With choreography by Marisa Hamamoto, who specializes in working with dancers with disabilities, Ali dances with the other girls in scenes that promote inclusion, serving as a normalizing image of life in a chair.

"Roll This Way" is an anthem for embracing what makes us different, inspiring people of all backgrounds to live a life without limits. Ali encourages viewers to donate to one of two charities: Shriners Hospital for Children, where Ali received multiple life-saving surgeries (she is a Shriner's Youth Ambassador and performs at fundraisers, as well as in the hospitals), and Janie's Fund, a charity founded by Steven Tyler dedicated to providing resources to assist young girls who are victims of abuse. Ali will be donating royalties from the song as well. Watch the video here.

Kayos submitted this story.
It may be edited- Excerpted here with permission.