December 14, 2009

According to Roger Friedman of Showbiz411.com, Steven Tyler has changed managers again. The frontman has left Union Entertainment Group -- which represents Nickelback, Cinderella, Lynch Mob and Hinder -- and has signed with Allen Kovac of 10th Street Entertainment (Motley Crue, Papa Roach and Buckcherry).

Before signing with Union Entertainment Group, Tyler was being represented by the Boston rockers' longtime handlers, HK Management (headed up by Howard Kaufman and Trudy Green), who have managed Aerosmith since 1999.

December 7 and December 14

Lenny Kravitz and Buckcherry singer Josh Todd do not want Steven Tyler's job - even if offered.

In a message on his Twitter page, Kravitz said his friendship with Tyler prevented him from ever taking the singer's place.

"As much as I am flattered that Aerosmith's camp would consider me to front the band, Steven Tyler is a family friend, and no voice could ever take the place of his," he wrote. "I hope the band stays together. They are classic."

Rolling Stones readers voted Buckcherry's Josh Todd the best replacement for Steven Tyler, but Todd told the mag he doesn't want the Aerosmith gig. "He's been a huge inspiration for me and Buckcherry. I truly believe that no one can take his place and hopefully they patch things up. I am the singer of Buckcherry and we are currently hard at work on the next record. Hopefully we will see an Aerosmith/Buckcherry tour in the future." Buckcherry opened for KISS on the U.S. leg of their 2009 tour.

December 2, 2009

In the new issue of Rolling Stone, the magazine lays out the whole AeroDrama. If you've been reading my blog, you know the whole gist but here are a few quotes I hadn't seen yet from that story:

Drummer Joey Kramer: "We have a 40th anniversary coming up and we want to celebrate it. We're not waiting two years for him so we've been talking to some famous singers."

Daughter Liv Tyler: "He's been going through a lot of things on his own and he hasn't been around that much. I really wish he was around more, to know my son, but he has to go through what he goes through."

Joe Perry: "I called him up to ask if he wanted to do some South American dates. He said he didn't want to do it and then I realized there was nobody on the other end of the line. I guess he hung up."

Steven Tyler's email to the band: Just before the band was to play their two Hawaiian makeup dates and the one-off in Abu Dhabi, each member received an email from Tyler saying he wouldn't be at any soundchecks or rehearsals. All Aerosmith members say they had no conversations with him other than on the stage.

November 22, 2009
Joe Perry presented an award to Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards. On the red carpet before the event, MTV interviewed Perry who said the only communication he and Steven Tyler have right now is through the press.

November 20, 2009
Despite a comment by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry that frontman Steven Tyler wants to take a 2-year hiatus from the band, a Tyler spokesperson 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 (09).

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."

November 18, 2009
Billboard reports: Even as they contemplate working with another singer, Steven Tyler's Aerosmith bandmates say they're worried about their frontman's health and well being.

"Steven, he isolates more and more all the time -- that's what gives it away to me that there's something going on," drummer Joey Kramer tells Billboard.com. "I don't know what that is. I know he's made some not so great choices and he's got some negative influences around him now. I love the guy. I just want to see him get some help."

Kramer demures on discussing the specific rumors of substance abuse swirling around Tyler via online reports, but guitarist Brad Whitford acknowledges that "this guy has a tremendous history of drug abuse, and you have to be suspicious that this is something that's probably going on with him. I have a feeling we might be looking at someone who's just really struggling very badly." Whitford adds that Tyler's behavior in recent years "was becoming more erratic and unreasonable" leading to the singer's recent decision to take two years away from Aerosmith to focus on what he refers to as "brand Tyler."

Kramer and Whitford both say Tyler has become increasingly isolated from the rest of the band, hiring separate management and not communicating directly with anyone. "I have called him and left voice mails and texted him to no avail," says Kramer, who chronicles his complex, passive-aggressive relationship with Tyler in his new memoir "Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top."

"I get no reply. One of his biggest things is that, 'Well, nobody calls me.' Well, that's bulls**t, 'cause I have. I've always been there for him and I probably always will be. I can only hope and pray that Steven will put the focus on Steven and get healthy."

Tyler's only public comment about the matter came on Nov. 10, when he made a surprise encore appearance at the Joe Perry Project's concert in New York City and announced that "I'm not leaving Aerosmith." The rest of the band, meanwhile -- including guitarist Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton -- is in daily communication and focusing on what it wants to do next.

The group does seem resolved in its decision to look for another singer to work with. Whitford predicts that while "no one can fill Steven Tyler's shoes," the selection process will come down to "people that we know or are friends that we think might consider doing it."

Sharing names "wouldn't be prudent right now," according to the guitarist, but he says that "hopefully we'll do something creative and push the boundaries of what we do, maybe make some new music, not just go out there and be, like, an Aerosmith cover band."

Even the band name is up for grabs, as fan sentiment online is running decidedly against using Aerosmith for a group without Tyler. "We're contemplating our options, and (the name) is one of them," Kramer says. "I don't know that we have the answers yet. But no matter what you do, you can never make everybody happy...You've just got to come from your heart and do what you think is the right thing to do and hopefully people will adapt. Brad and Tom and Joe and I wish to continue to play and tour as a band, so whatever is involved in that, in moving forward, that's what we intend to do. The four of us stand united."

Whitford says the group will choose its course of action "ideally sooner than later" but acknowledges that "I have my doubts about us being able to pull this off any time soon." He's also not ruling out a reconciliation with Tyler.

"We would love to see that happen," Whitford says. "I hear all the fans and everybody, but no group of guys would like him back more than we would. We would never shut the door -- there might be a sign on that door that has a list of qualifications, but we would never shut the door."

November 11, 2009
In a Twitter.com post, Tyler's daughter writes, "They (Aerosmith) are in their 60s now. Let them do what they wanna do! and can someone please tell (them) that gossiping on Twitter is uncalled (for)!" (ANI)

November 10, 2009

Steven Tyler surprises Joe Perry onstage, announces he's not quitting (Fbomb here!)



Joe Perry Tweets from November 9, 2009 confirm Aerosmith is looking for a new lead singer but is not breaking up....[huh?]

Joe Perry on Friday, November 6: "Steven quit as far as I can tell," Perry told the Las Vegas Sun from his Boston home. "I don't know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don't know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don't know."

Part of the problem, he says, is that Tyler doesn't return his phone calls.

"He's notorious for that," Perry said. "That's one thing I've learned to live with. I try to overlook it. I like to pick my battles. Frankly, the last few months I've been wanting not to rock the boat. I don't want him canceling any more gigs. We really wanted to do these last four. We just kind of didn't want to call him out or anything and get him anymore pissed off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie. So we did the gigs and, like I said, I got off the plane and saw this online. That's how I know about it."

Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton on Thursday, November 5: "We're always full of troubles, trials and tribulations," Hamilton said. "But somewhere in the back of everyone's mind is the knowledge that the only way to get something like the unbelievable experience we just had in Abu Dhabi is as this band."

As the seeming optimist in the band, referring to guitarist Brad Whitford's comments (below) that Steven had indeed QUIT, Hamilton laughed, "They must have gotten Brad before his coffee or something."

Still, Tom admitted that things have not been going well behind the scenes for the band, which is about to celebrate 40 years in the music biz.

"Steven's always mad at us," he said.

The band has been feuding since their summer tour was halted after Tyler fell off a stage in Sturgis, S.D. Sources told us that Steven, the oft-rehabbed rocker who had been a poster boy for the 12 Steps, had fallen off the wagon and the band was having trouble getting insurance for future tour dates.

Tyler subsequently pulled out of a South American tour planned for late 2009. And during the band's three recent shows - two in Hawaii and the aforementioned United Arab Emirates gig - Tyler reportedly avoided his bandmates until they all stepped onstage.

Hamilton said guitarist Joe Perry, who has also been working on a solo project, is "extremely frustrated, as the rest of us are," that Aerosmith has not put out a new record in five years.

"We're committed to another record for Columbia so at some point, we gotta do another record," he said. "So we're all waiting for something to come around full circle and get to the point where we can get together and do something."

Hamilton downplayed any talk that the band might be thinking of finding a new lead singer and said when they do the new record it "pretty much would have to be" with Tyler at the helm.

"I guess we've got to wait until he's not mad at us," he said. "There's still a lot of love left but for some reason he's not very happy with the rest of us. Maybe he's just too used to people jumping to his agenda."

Aerosmith played for 50,000 delirious fans at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday November 1, after which lead singer Steven Tyler promptly announced that he was going to pursue solo projects. And guitarist Brad Whitford publicly discussed the possiblity of Aerosmith finding a new frontman.

Steven Tyler, Sunday, November 1:"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 before Aerosmith played a triumphant set to a crowd of over 50,000 adrenalized punters at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

"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 Brad Whitford, Sunday, November 1: Whitford said 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?"

Joe Perry in mid-October: "The thing that bothers me the most is how it (time off) affects the fans... The only reason you're there is because of the fans. You owe them a lot, and when you start taking them for granted it's just wrong.

"I think that a lot of what happened with Aerosmith over the last two or three years has been a case of that. And I'm not talking about everybody in the band. I think at this point the four band members are willing to not play for a while until the fifth member gets together and decides to come and join us again."

Perry said Tyler was 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.

Classic Rock magazine reported that 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."

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.

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