After almost five decades of livin’ on the edge, Aerosmith are finally set to call it quits.
But not before one final world tour.
Frontman Steve Tyler announced the bittersweet news on US radio, no doubt leaving a hole in many a fan’s soul.
“I love this band, I really do, and I want to squash every thought that anybody might have about this,” Tyler told host Howard Stern. “We’re doing a farewell tour, but only because it’s time. We’ve never done that.”
The demon of screamin’ also revealed that the band hasn’t ruled out recording one last studio album together before hanging up their guitars (their last LP being 2012’s Music From Another Dimension).
“Look, there’s two bands that still have the original members, us and the Stones,” Tyler added. “I’m grateful for that.”
Rumours of the band’s impending breakup have been persisting for years, but reached a tipping point back in December when rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford told That Metal Show‘s Eddie Trunk: “We are actually talking about… actually putting together a sort of wind-down tour which we would call the Farewell. I guess it’s just because of our age. You know, something’s gonna happen. It’s just inevitable that somebody’s not gonna be able to do it anymore. So it would be very nice to take a nice long bow and say thank you and … put it to bed kind of gracefully.”
Aerosmith have had an undeniably impressive 46-year innings, managing to stay relevant across multiple decades through their pioneering brand of blues-rock (without Aerosmith there would be no Guns N’ Roses), landmark cross-pollination with hip-hop (Walk This Way), capping off the epic 90’s action blockbuster craze with I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (which soundtracked Armageddon and will surely continue to go off at karaoke for decades to come) and even letting Eminem sample their epic ballad Dream On in his 2002 chart smasher Sing For The Moment.
Plus, you know –
Aerosmith last performed in Australia as part of 2013’s huge one-off Stone Music Festival and they were actually genuinely fucking insanely awesome.
Their farewell world tour is expected to take place in 2017, and it had better come to Australia!
Watch: Aerosmith – Mama Kin Live 1977
