AEROSMITH To Open New York State Fair Mohegan Sun Grandstand

According to Syracuse.com, Boston hard rock legends AEROSMITH will open this year’s New York State Fair Mohegan Sun Grandstand lineup at 7:30 PM on August 26.

Tickets, priced at $84, $94 and $104, will go on sale at 10 a.m. May 29 at the fair box office, Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com and by phone charge at 800-745-3000.

Backstageaxxess.com’s Gus Griesinger asked guitarist Brad Whitford about the band’s long-awaited new studio album recently.

“Well, we certainly would like to finish it,” he remarked. “We started it about three times now over the past five or six years and just can’t seem to finish it. Or something happens and it gets disrupted and we stop and we don’t return to it. So we are going to, after this touring is over, we are going to try to do it at that point. I guess we will have to see where everyone is at and if everyone is still into it.”

Steven Tyler Enters Rehab for Painkiller Addiction

Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has entered a rehab facility for pain management and an addiction to prescription painkillers resulting from 10 years of performance injuries, PEOPLE has learned.

“With the help of my family and team of medical professionals, I am taking responsibility for the management of my pain and am eager to be back on the stage and in the recording studio with my bandmates Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford,” Tyler says in a statement released to PEOPLE.

Steven Tyler Walks Away From Managers

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is starting to ease on down the Michael Jackson road: He’s changed managers again.

Tyler, AWOL from Aerosmith and clearly in health trouble, has left pal Jason Flom and John Greenberg of UEG. I’ve confirmed that he’s signed with Allen Kovac of 10th Street Entertainment.

Among Kovac’s clients is Motley Crue, which is a little ironic. Tyler, it’s always been said, wrote “Dude Looks Like a Lady” about Crue’s Vince Neil some 20 years ago. Maybe they could all tour together now!

AEROSMITH’S STEVEN TYLER IS WRITING HIS MEMOIRS

Steven Tyler has opened up about his rumored hiatus from Aerosmith – he’s taking some time off to write a book while his injured shoulder heals.

The group has been thrown into chaos in recent weeks, with Tyler’s baffled band mates admitting he’s kept them in the dark over whether he plans to continue as their frontman.

Guitarist Joe Perry recently claimed Tyler is planning to take a “two-year” hiatus, leaving the band in turmoil.

However, a spokesperson for the frontman is adamant Tyler is just taking a quick break while he recovers from a shoulder injury, which he sustained after falling off stage at a gig in August.

The rep adds that Tyler is using his time productively – he is writing his autobiography, telling People.com, “He’s concentrating on his book right now while his shoulder heals.”

Feuding rockers Aerosmith looking for new singer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Who wants to become the new singer for Aerosmith?

The lead guitarist with one of America’s most successful rock groups said on Monday that he and his bandmates were “positively looking for a new singer to work with,” following a rift with energetic frontman Steven Tyler.

Joe Perry, 59, made the announcement on his Twitter page, ratcheting up an unusually public feud with his songwriting partner of 40 years.

The duo, dubbed the “Toxic Twins” for their hard-living days of yore, wrote such classic-rock staples as “Walk this Way” and “Love in an Elevator.” Their musical relationship has been likened to that of their role models, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

But Tyler, 61, recently said he wants to concentrate on solo endeavors, a claim he has made in the past but never followed through on. He also stopped communicating with the rest of the band several months ago, and hired his own manager.

Perry told Reuters last month that Tyler has refused to write a song with him for a decade. More recently, Perry said that the last time he phoned Tyler, the singer hung up on him.

Incredibly, the band has still managed to perform concerts, but a summer trek through North America was cut short in August when Tyler fell off the stage and broke his shoulder. None of his bandmates accompanied him to the hospital.

“BRAND TYLER”

In recent weeks, Aerosmith reunited for a pair of shows in Hawaii, and then performed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 1, temporarily papering over the cracks to recoup some of the revenue lost by the canceled American tour.

But Tyler surprised his bandmates by telling Britain’s Classic Rock magazine, in an article published last Wednesday, that he would focus on his own projects, “Brand Tyler,” as he dubbed it.

His bandmates were less than enthusiastic about being sidelined. In the same article, guitarist Brad Whitford raised the possibility of bringing in a new vocalist.

Tyler was “one of a kind,” it quoted Whitford as saying. “But if somebody was willing to do it and the chemistry was right, why not?”

Perry quickly took to Twitter to express his dismay at learning about Tyler’s apparent departure online, and he described Tyler’s attitude as “a bit cold.”

In his Twitter messages on Monday, in which he referred to Tyler simply as “one of the members,” Perry denied Aerosmith would break up, saying the band was playing “hotter than ever.”

“You just can’t take 40 years of experience and throw it in the bin!”

At any rate, Perry is now focusing on his own endeavors. He just released his fifth solo album, and plans an extensive world tour early next year.

Aerosmith previously fell apart in 1979, when Perry quit the band during its drug-fueled nadir. Whitford soon followed, leaving the rest of the band to limp along. The original lineup reconvened in 1984, sobered up, and eventually enjoyed a successful 1990s comeback fueled by MTV videos.

But the band has not released a studio album of new material since 2001. Recording sessions since then have been interrupted by ailments affected virtually every band member. For his part, Tyler did a stint in rehab last year.

While Perry has been vocal about the feud, Tyler has largely kept silent. But his daughter, Mia, also took to Twitter on Monday to defend him and to make a dig at Perry.

“They are in their 60s now,” she wrote. “Let them do what they wanna do! & can someone please tell (Joe Perry) that gossiping on Twitter is uncalled (for)!”

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia responded to the feud by moving Tyler to its list of former Aerosmith members, but then restored him to the current lineup amid the uncertainty.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)


Tyler has quit Aerosmith – Perry

Solo ?

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has tried hard not to comment on the problems inside his band for the last few months. But he’s finally broken his silence and says singer Steven Tyler is out – but he hopes there’s a future for the rest of the outfit.

Issues first came to light when Tyler fell off a stage in August, breaking his shoulder and forcing the cancellation of a US tour with ZZ Top. In the following days rumours circulated that Tyler was no longer talking to his bandmates, that he had separate management at odds with Aerosmith, and that he was drinking again.

The frontman recently told Classic Rock Magazine he was going to work on “Brand Tyler”. Now Perry has spoken out too, saying Tyler has finished with the band after their F1 Grand Prix concert in Aby Dhabi last weekend.

He tells the Las Vegas Sun: “Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don’t know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane and saw online that Steven said he was leaving. I don’t know for how long.

“Frankly, the last few months I’ve been wanting not to rock the boat. We didn’t want to call him out and get him any more pissed off. We didn’t want him cancelling any more gigs – we really wanted to do these last four. So we just let things lie.

“He has no contact with me or the other band members. That’s one thing I’ve learned to live with – I try to overlook it.”

But Perry thinks the band is bigger than any one member, and feels there’s work still to be done by himself, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer.

He says: “Aerosmith is such a powerful band. You can’t disregard 40 years of four guys who play together as well as they do. It’s not about replacing Steve – it’s four guys who play extremely well together, and I’m not going to see that go to waste. I don’t know what path it’s going to take at this point, but we’ll probably find someone to sing where we need a singer, and then we’ll be able to move the vibe up a notch.”

Aerosmith’s Tyler is living on the edge

Aerosmith: Game over?

Aerosmith may be on the verge of splitting after all, according to Classic Rock Magazine, who are reporting that singer Steven Tyler is considering a solo project while the rest of the band are open to the possibility of replacing him.

Tyler tells the mag: “I don’t know what I’m doing yet but it’s definitely going to be something Steven Tyler, working on the brand of myself: Brand Tyler.”

Meanwhile guitarist Brad Whitford says the rest of the band will be gathering in the near future, probably without their singer, to discuss the future – and even replacing their frontman.

Whitford explains: “I’m not sure how good that would look. Nobody could replace Steven, or imitate him – he’s one of a kind. But if someone was willing to do it and the chemistry was right, why not?”

The comments follow guitarist Joe Perry’s comments about Tyler being free to do his own thing as long as he informed the band in time, and also saying the band was on “temporary hiatus” while they decided if they had enough to offer to keep going.

In the aftermath of Tyler’s stage fall, leaving him with a broken shoulder and leading to the cancellation of their US tour with ZZ Top and the suspension of their new album, rumours circulated that the singer was no longer communicating directly with the band, that his management were at odds with Aerosmith’s management, and even that he was being advised to develop a solo career.

It was also rumoured he was drinking again – an allegation he refuted.

Classic Rock confirms Tyler’s dressing room was some distance from his bandmates’ when they played the F1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi at the weekend – their last scheduled performance. But the mag also reports the show was a killer, with Perry saying: “On a good night Aerosmith can top any band in the world.”

Are Aerosmith Headed For A Permanent Vacation?

Classic Rock exclusive: Steven to work on ‘Brand Tyler’ as band members ponder a future without him…

Words: Peter Makowski

“Once the band hit the final note and I walk off stage – then I’ll tell you the whole story,” an exuberant Steven Tyler announced to Classic Rock minutes before Aerosmith played a triumphant set to a crowd of over 50,000 adrenalized punters at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The future of Aerosmith looks uncertain at moment as they approach their 40th anniversary in 2010.

Since falling off stage whilst the band were on tour with ZZ Top, Tyler has decided to pull out of a planned South American tour at the end of the year and seems intent on pursuing solo projects, as he revealed to Classic Rock.

“I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but it’s definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler.”

Guitarist Joe Perry also took advantage of the recent break by recording and releasing a new solo album – Have Guitar, Will Travel – and will be touring in the States over the next couple of months with talks of doing some dates in Japan and the UK early next year.

Even with all the internal politics the band managed to pull out all stops by playing what Perry described as “one of the best shows of the year”. There will be a full live review in the January issue of Classic Rock.

“You know on a good night I believe that Aerosmith can top any band in the world,” said the granite-jawed axeman, “but the Grand Prix is a tough act to follow.”

On stage there was no sign of any acrimony – just the smiles, banter and the general bonhomie that is associated with Boston’s premier good-time band.

But off stage the story is much different.

As with the last three shows, none of the band see Tyler until the opening number and his dressing room is located quite a distance from the rest of the group.

At the moment Aerosmith’s future is an open book and over the next couple of weeks the band will reconvene (probably sans Tyler) to discuss future plans, which could be either the announcement of a long hiatus – or even possibly include carrying on with a new lead vocalist.

Guitarist Brad Whitford revealed:

“I’m not sure how good that would look, it would largely depend on who we could get and who would want to do it. That’s big shoes to fill.

“Nobody could replace Steven or imitate him – he’s one of a kind. But if somebody was willing to do it and the chemistry was right, why not?”

For future developments keep your eye on this website and February’s issue of Classic Rock, which will have a full story – and a very, very special surprise for Aerosmith fans.