The Aerosmith drama that followed the band’s Grammy honours may have finally drawn to its conclusion.
As you may recall, earlier this year the classic rock legends courted a lot of press after their life-long drummer Joey Kramer announced he was suing his bandmates for not allowing him to rejoin the band during their performance at the Grammys, where they were honoured with the 2020 MusiCares Person of the Year award.
Last year, Kramer had taken six months disability leave after an injury forced him off the drums for some time. According to Kramer, when he felt ready to take his place behind the kit once again, his bandmates insisted he audition to a click track before he could rejoin them for their ongoing Las Vegas residency, to make sure he was capable at an appropriate skill level – which the band then claimed he wasn’t.
In his suit, Kramer pointed out that he was the first member to ever be asked to essentially audition for his role in the band back, and there was no provision in the band’s contract which stipulated that a band member be forced to demonstrate their ability after an injury in order to rejoin the group.
In the end, a judge ruled in favour of the rest of the band on the basis that Kramer hadn’t played with them in six months, along with the limited rehearsal time available before the upcoming live performance. Aerosmith played at the Grammys sans Kramer, but he did join them onstage to accept the Person of the Year award.
Apparently that’s all water under the bridge, however, with TMZ reporting that Kramer is set to play with Aerosmith tonight in Vegas – and it seems as though he wasn’t even required to perform an audition in order to get back into the fold. According to TMZ‘s sources, it was an act of “good faith between old pals.”
Good news all around for Aerosmith fans, and hopefully this marks the end of the whole affair.
