Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler is still recovering from a severe vocal cord injury, which prompted the band to postpone a series of upcoming shows on its farewell tour. The frontman’s vocal injury comes on the heels of a few tumultuous recent years for the band, which formed over 50 years ago.
“I’m heartbroken to say I have received strict doctor’s orders not to sing for the next thirty days,” Tyler shared on the band’s social media platforms Monday.
“I sustained vocal cord damage during Saturday’s show that led to subsequent bleeding. We’ll need to postpone a few dates so that we can come back and give you the performance you deserve.”
Aerosmith began its Peace Out farewell tour this month in Philadelphia and is scheduled to perform into 2024.
Steven Tyler is on vocal rest for 30 days after injuring his vocal cords on Aerosmith’s farewell tour. (Kevin Mazur)
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It is unclear if Tyler will require further medical attention after vocal rest or what the long-term impact will be on the band’s plans for their final tour.
In a statement to The Associated Press when the tour was announced in May, Tyler said, “We’re opening up Pandora’s box one last time to present our fans with the Peace Out tour. Be there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready.”
Aerosmith members, left to right, Brad Whitford, Joey Kramer, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler and Tom Hamiton in 1977. (Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
This isn’t the band’s first string of shows that have been postponed. In May 2022, Aerosmith canceled Las Vegas residency dates after Tyler relapsed and entered a rehab center after foot surgery meant to ready him for the stage.
“As many of you know. Our beloved brother Steven has worked on his sobriety for many years. After foot surgery to prepare for the stage and the necessity of pain management during the process, he has recently relapsed and voluntarily entered a treatment program to concentrate on his health and recovery,” a social media statement from the band said.
In July, Fox News Digital confirmed Tyler had checked out of the rehab center after staying longer than the required 30 days.
Representatives for Tyler said at the time he was “doing extremely well and looking forward to being back on stage.”
Steven Tyler relapsed and entered rehab in 2022, prompting Aerosmith to cancel Las Vegas residency dates. (Ollie Millington/WireImage)
Aerosmith eventually performed scheduled dates late in the year but canceled its final two residency shows in December, citing unspecified health issues for Tyler.
“On the advice of doctors, Steven has to sit these out. Stay healthy and we’ll see you in the new year!” the group wrote at the time.
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Foot issues have plagued Tyler for years. In 2012, he told Oprah Winfrey about using painkillers to deal with pain in his feet from “dancing around onstage.”
“My toes are all squished. During an operation, they had to take nerves out,” he explained. “This was in 2002, 2003. I was on so many drugs, and I didn’t give them to someone else to hold. I’m in bed, and I start snorting. I got really bummed out and ashamed.”
Steven Tyler told Oprah Winfrey in 2012 his feet are in bad shape from “dancing around on stage.” (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The Grammy award winner has been open about his struggles with drugs and sobriety.
In 2019, he recalled the time his band sent him to rehab to kick a habit in 1988.
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“There was a moment in ’88 where management and the band pulled an intervention on me,” Tyler told Haute Living. They thought, ‘Get the lead singer sober, and all our problems would be over.’ So I got sober and, you know, it took me many years to get over the anger of them sending me to rehab while they went on vacation.
“But today, because of that moment … I am grateful and owe a thanks to them for my sobriety.”
Tyler thanked his Aerosmith bandmates for his sobriety in 2019. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Janie’s Fund)
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Apart from health issues, Tyler has also faced legal drama.
In March, Tyler filed a response to a lawsuit by Julia Misley, who accused the musician of sexual assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Tyler claims he and Misley — who was known as Julia Holcomb — had a consensual sexual relationship despite the woman being 16 years old at the time. He also claimed he has immunity due to being the legal guardian of Misley at the time of the relationship.
Tyler requested that the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it could not be reinstated at any time.
Steven Tyler recently responded to a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and battery by a woman who was underage when they meet in the early 1970s. (Phillip Faraone/WireImage)
In the lawsuit filed by Misley in 2022, she alleged she met Tyler at a 1973 Aerosmith concert in Portland, Oregon, when she was 16 and he was 25. Afterward, she alleged the singer took her to his hotel room, where they discussed her age and her troubled home life, and he “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon” her and then sent her home in a taxi the following morning.
The lawsuit also includes direct quotes from Tyler’s 2012 memoir, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?” in which he wrote he “almost took a teen bride,” though he did not name the teenager.
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He also wrote that “her parents fell in love with me, signed a paper over for me to have custody so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me.”
It was later reported that a recent filing from Tyler’s lawyers in May asked that the parts of the suit based on his memoir be stricken from the suit.
The band, founded in 1970 by Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer, has occasionally shown signs of strain over the years.
Aerosmith poses for a portrait in front of their plane in 1978. (Ron Pownall/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Kramer, the band’s drummer, was prevented from performing with the band at the 2020 Grammys after he sued them, claiming he was asked to audition following some minor injuries the previous year that prevented him from performing for roughly six months.
According to People, Kramer’s lawsuit insisted he recovered from his injuries in the fall of 2019 and was “willing and able to return” to the band for its residency shows in November and December. However, Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford insisted Kramer prove he’s “able to play at an appropriate level.”
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“Joey Kramer is our brother; his well-being is of paramount importance to us,” a statement from the band provided to Fox News Digital at the time said. “However, he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last six months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times, but apparently he has not felt ready to do so.”
Joey Kramer sued his Aerosmith bandmates for preventing him from joining them at the 2020 Grammys and allegedly asking him to audition after he suffered some minor injuries. (Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage)
They continued, saying Kramer “waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week. We would be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse.
“Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events. Given his decisions, he is unfortunately unable to perform but, of course, we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honor. We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage.”
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After the drama, Kramer reunited with the band a month later for their Deuces Are Wild residency in Las Vegas.
After the brief legal drama with drummer Joey Kramer, Aerosmith reunited for their Las Vegas residency in 2020. (Matthew Eisman/FilmMagic)
Tyler and guitarist Perry have also butted heads over the years and at one point were called “The Toxic Twins” due to their rock ‘n’ roll lifestyles. Perry even briefly left Aerosmith in 1979 but returned in 1984.
Another later near breaking point was in 2012, when Tyler became a judge on “American Idol.”
Rolling Stone reported that Perry told a Calgary newspaper, “It’s one step above Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ll tell you one thing, when we put this band together, this is not something that he would do. It’s his business, but I don’t want Aerosmith’s name involved with it.”
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In 2016, Perry shot down rumors the band was looking to replace Tyler.
“Any rumor out there about us looking for another singer is completely untrue. All five of us were just on the phone together talking about how excited we are to go to South America and Mexico City,” Perry said.
Ahead of the Peace Out tour, Perry spoke about his long friendship with Tyler through the ups and downs of their five-decade career.
“This is no bulls—, man. He’s probably my best friend through all of it,” Perry told Classic Rock magazine in June. “We just know we’re different people. Even through the ’70s, we were the ones that would go off on a scuba diving trip together.”
Joe Perry told Classic Rock magazine earlier this year Steven Tyler is “probably my best friend through all of it.” (Rich Polk/Getty Images for Janie’s Fund)
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He also admitted he had worried about the fate of Aerosmith after Tyler joined “American Idol.”
“It was, like, ‘Holy s—, we’re gonna have to plan the band’s career around that,’” Perry recalled. “But, God bless him, not everybody gets the chance to do that. So it was, ‘Go for it, man.’ There was a lot going on, so I filled it with writing. That’s why I’ve got seven or eight solo albums. I just wish some of those songs had been … I played most of that stuff to Steven.”
Despite his challenges, Tyler still believes strongly in the band that started decades ago in Boston.
Steven Tyler told Haute Living in 2019 that despite over 50 years of performing, Aerosmith is “still up there trying to prove something to people.” (Brill/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
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“We all wanted to do it. We wanted to have something to prove to people. And do you know until this second, every night when you see us, we are still up there trying to prove something to people,” Tyler told Haute Living in 2019.
“I stayed in this band because I know the power that Joe and I have from all the songs that we’ve written, or Brad and Tom and Joey. Joey has been here through thick and thin. I have had many times in my life where I just couldn’t handle, whether it was a marriage or my addiction had reared its ugly head, and the rest of the guys in the band are not unlike that. But we have all seen each other through it, and we are here today. My whole life is dreams coming true. I am so beyond grateful for it all.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright, Janelle Ash, and Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
