Has Steven Tyler left Aerosmith?!

[Dawn]

Saw this on my Yahoo home page earlier:

news.yahoo.com/s/launch/20091109/en_launch/61996054

I remember hearing about Steven's accident, but hadn't known relations among the band members were so tense. They've been together a long time - hopefully they can work out their differences after all.

[Jughead]

I certainly hope something can be worked out. I know Aerosmith can go on with a new singer, as many bands have before...but geez...Steven Tyler was the voice of Aerosmith for decades! I can't imagine the band without him!

[dave910]

The past few years have been very challenging for Aerosmith. While the band remains a huge concert draw, that hasn't been without it's issues. Tyler had surgery on his foot about a year ago and I believe he had to remove some pylops on his vocal cords in 2005. One of the members battled cancer a few years ago. The band hasn't released a CD since 2004 blues inspired "Honkin' on Bobo", which went gold. Not bad, but for a band that has sold millions, a bit lower than expected. Aerosmith puts on a high energy show, which is a testament to their sobriety. Joe Perry has put out two solo CD's in past four years.

I would love to see Aerosmtih due one more killer album and tour, because I feel they have the energy to do that.

[H2IZCOOL]

Many bands can change most members with basically no break in stride, but for top bands such as Aerosmith there is one individual who IS the band. It is usually, but not always the lead vocalist. For Aerosmith I think it is indeed Steve Tyler. It is his vocalizations that made Aerosmith what it is. Yeah, Joe Perry is right, there are four guys who play well together, and maybe Aerosmith can go on, but I doubt it.

If The Stones lost Mick Jagger, it's over.
When Queen lost Freddie Mercury it was over.
If Eddie Van Halen quit, the band would be gone (the non-vocalist essential member here - they survived with three different lead singers and have dumped Michael Anthony as well.)

[Ken]

I also remember hearing about Steven's accident, then seeing the amateur video footage on youtube.

As Dave has mentioned over the years the band has had it's share of problems, a lot to do with health issues.


I've also heard that Steven has been on and off the wagon, spending some time in rehab about a year ago.

You can change drummers, guitarists, bass players etc but when a band changes lead singers in some cases it doesn't seem to be as easy of a transition.


Hopefully things can be worked out

[Pete70s]

The singer makes the band. Very few successful bands have continued to be successful after losing their singer. AC/DC did, but they were just becoming successful in America and found the right guy at the right time. Van Halen did, when they found a singer who was already established that fit perfectly into the direction they were going in. So did Anthrax, and Deep Purple, twice..

Aerosmith, though, are in the twilight of their career. While they are still a very popular band, they is little to zero chance that they will ever be as successful as they once were. While they could still make another great record, NO ONE will accept them without Steven Tyler.

[cairnterrier]

Nov 10, 2009 10:48:47 GMT -5 H2IZCOOL said:

Many bands can change most members with basically no break in stride, but for top bands such as Aerosmith there is one individual who IS the band. It is usually, but not always the lead vocalist. For Aerosmith I think it is indeed Steve Tyler. It is his vocalizations that made Aerosmith what it is. Yeah, Joe Perry is right, there are four guys who play well together, and maybe Aerosmith can go on, but I doubt it.

If The Stones lost Mick Jagger, it's over.
When Queen lost Freddie Mercury it was over.
If Eddie Van Halen quit, the band would be gone (the non-vocalist essential member here - they survived with three different lead singers and have dumped Michael Anthony as well.)

Interesting comment about Van Halen. Yup...Eddie the main part, but he is also the member who has dragged the band as a unit down. Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony both are in Chickenfoot and are doing amazingly well. Roth...as much as he dropped in favor since his first departure in '85 still can draw a crowd on his own.

When VH attempted to press on without Roth or Hagar and brought on Gary Cherone instead, they failed miserably both with the VH3 album and the follow up tour. To try to correct this, the band reunited with Hagar in 2004, but was hit or miss on various dates due to Eddie's drinking. That fact could be used to make the point that VH is nothing without Ed, indeed so if using the VH name. (But Hagar, Roth, and Anthony in other projects do fine). This is also the part where Ed can be blamed for dragging the band down. They had all the ingredients for a great rebound, but that was all lost due to the behavior and ego of the lead guitarist.

Van Halen then reunited in 2007 with Roth....but without Michael Anthony. While alot of people were happy that Roth and EVH were on stage again...most fans agreed that alot of the sound was missing without Anthony's high range backing vocals and harmony. In simple terms, they fell flat alot of the times. Ed's 16 year old son did try to hold the back end up, but he had yet to gain experience, and...quite frankly...lacked any stage presence. (And concerning Ed's playing...he just wasn't getting the sound he once had. Check out any Youtube clip of VH playing live in 1995,and compare it to those of the band playing live in 2007.)

The point here is that while some bands do need a strong "main" member to survive....sometimes each member brings to the table an ingredient needed to make the group successful....if they want to continue using the original name and music style.

As for Aerosmith....they are also one of those bands where they know they can't continue on as the band by that name if various members are missing. That happened to them in the late 70's when Joe Perry was out. Same thing would have happened had Tyler bailed. They know they need each other to be successful....at least in the eyes of the paying fans. So it is safe to say that Aerosmith will continue on as a "business" with the objective to make music for paying fans, and not for the "brotherhood" of it all.

[Jughead]

I wonder if the fact that Steven Tyler is gonna be an American Idol judge will have any further bearing on this...