Steven Tyler Has Quit Aerosmith: Joe Perry
Band member says Aerosmith frontman has left the hit group
By CAITLIN MILLAT
Updated 7:57 AM CST, Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Aerosmith will have to "Walk This Way" without frontman Steven Tyler.
The legendary rocker has dropped out of the chart-topping band he fronted for three decades, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said this weekend after a concert in Abu Dhabi.
Talk about bad blood amongst the Aerosmith ranks has swirled through the media for weeks, as have rumors of Tyler's departure, but Perry is the first to confirm Tyler walked out on the group. Tyler cryptically told the British Web site Classic Rock last week that he would cut his ties with Aerosmith after the show.
"Steven quit as far as I can tell," Perry told the Las Vegas Sun Friday. "I saw online that Steven said he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever," he said.
Perry said the past few months had been spent covering for Tyler as he canceled gigs and wouldn't return phone calls from his longtime bandmates.
"Frankly, the last few months I've been wanting to not rock the boat," Perry said. "We just kind of didn't want to call him out or anything and get him any more pissed off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie."
The guitarist said the brush-off from Tyler was a slap in the face -- and something Tyler had been planning for awhile.
"Obviously he hasn't been giving 100 percent to this thing for a long time," Perry said. "To disregard his brothers to the point where we have to find out about it on the Internet -- it's like, 'See you later, Bud.'"
Without Tyler, Perry said the band would struggle -- but continue on.
"Aerosmith is such a powerful band, I mean, it's like a steam locomotive," he said. "We'll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer and then we'll be able to move the Aerosmith up a notch."
Aerosmith became a worldwide sensation in the '70s, then saw a surge in popularity in the mid-1980s after Tyler emerged from rehab.
First Published: Nov 9, 2009 3:46 PM CST
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