The Aerosmith song “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” was inspired by an unlikely source: Barbra Streisand‘s real-life romance with husband James Brolin.

In her new memoir My Name is Barbra (out now), Streisand writes about her long relationship with Brolin, beginning with their first meeting in 1996. She remembers lying in bed with Brolin one night, when he told her, “I don’t want to fall asleep.” When she asked why, he sleepily replied: “‘Cause I’ll miss you.'”

“What a beautiful, poetic thing to say,” she writes. “And it captured a moment of complete bliss… physical, emotional, spiritual.”

Streisand explains that she later told that story on TV in a 1997 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters. Songwriter Diane Warren was watching that night, and she jotted down the exchange as inspiration, later using it in the lyrics for “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Aerosmith later recorded the song, and it became their first no. 1 hit in 1998. Director Michael Bay used it in his film Armageddon, and the song went on to score an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.

“It was so gratifying to see so many people responding to Jim’s words,” Streisand writes. “Well, no wonder… so did I!”

Streisand recently appeared on The Howard Stern Show to promote her memoir, where she recounted the story again and explained that was the moment she decided to marry Brolin. Streisand, 81, and Brolin, 83, have been married since 1998, after meeting on a blind date in 1996.

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