It’s been a little under a year since Steven Tyler’s ongoing health issues forced Aerosmith to retire from touring, but it seems that not all embers of the all-American rockers are out yet.
Bass player Tom Hamilton has already refused to rule out any future activity from the band, be that in the studio or on the stage, and now linchpin Joe Perry has hinted that at least one more live show could still happen.
Perry is set to embark on his first major tour since Aerosmith’s Peace Out tour was brought to a halt next month after tapping up members of the Stone Temple Pilots and Black Crowes for a new-look Joe Perry Project. Beyond that, he’s eying a return to Aerosmith, but accepts the odds of that happening are stacked against them.
“I'm always hoping,” he tells Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk. “But going on the road, it's a big deal pulling that together. There's so much planning, and what it takes out of you physically is a lot more than people realize. It's one thing when you're doing it when you're 25 or 30, but it's another when you're starting to get up there, like us. It's a really physical thing, going out on stage.”
It was such a realization that forced Aerosmith off the stage in the first place. Tyler had suffered a vocal injury in 2023 during the Peace Out tour, and he was unable to bounce back from it the same way a “Toys in the Attic”-era Tyler would have.
“All that energy that you're putting out,” he continues, “you're transferring to the audience. It takes something out of you in a physical and emotional way.”
But that doesn’t mean the band has shelved the possibility of getting back out in front of their fans. As he reveals, it’s a regular dialogue amongst the group. But, he adds that, if there last show was already behind them, he wouldn’t have any regrets.
“We talk probably a couple of times a week,” he says. “I mean, except for anything on the calendar, we're all alive and well. So, we'll just have to see.
“I know there's gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I'm not looking forward to putting the setlist together for that one. I've always played like every show's the last one. I hate to sound like it's a downer, but I give it up every night.”
Perry and Tyler returned, briefly, to the stage for a charity show on May 1. It was organized to raise money to support the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the Widows, Orphans, and Disabled Firefighters Fund in the wake of the L.A. wildfires.
The pair played “Janie’s Got a Gun”, having also played the song at their last show-proper, at the UBS Arena in Elmont, NY on September 9, 2023. The guitarist doesn’t want that to be the last time they perform together, but understands there are difficult factors at play.
“I think it's just a matter of getting there,” he replied when asked if Tyler would be open to the idea of more shows. “We're up there [in age], man. With COVID and everybody being home for that length of time, it was, like, ‘Oh, so this is how other people live,’ sleeping in your own bed every night. In the beginning, it was pretty bad, but it really opens your eyes. I don't think I've gone a year without something on the calendar and having to be somewhere.
“We'll see what happens.”
The band’s third album, “Toys in the Attic,” turned 50 years old earlier this year, and it was a record that had to succeed with the band fearing the axe from their label. At the time, the band was running on empty.
“After the first two records, which had songs that we basically played in clubs, we used up all of them,” Perry told Guitar Player last year, who says the band found their mojo after trusting their instincts to craft their new, change-making tracks.
Though Perry confesses to being a “stone-cold Gibson man,” he's also revealed that Fender guitars played a huge role in the band's early studio sessions, shaping the sound of the band in a way that wasn't possible solely on a Les Paul.
While telling Guitar Player about his favorite new amp, Perry let slip that work on a new solo album is underway. At the time of writing, no music has yet been released, but with a new tour on the horizon, things may change.
