After 45 years together, Aerosmith are set to call it quits.
During an appearance on Howard Stern’s radio program, frontman Steven Tyler confirmed the band’s plans to break up following a farewell tour in 2017.
“I love this band, I really do, and I want to squash every thought that anybody might have about this,” Tyler told Stern. “We’re doing a farewell tour, but only because it’s time. We’ve never done that.”
Tyler also wouldn’t rule out one final studio album. The band’s last release, Music from Another Dimension!, came out in 2012.
“Look, there’s two bands that still have the original members, us and the Stones,” Tyler added. “I’m grateful for that.”
Tyler’s comments echo what Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford told Eddie Trunk in December. “We are actually talking about that — 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.”
Rumors of Aerosmith’s breakup have persisted for years, but recently came to a head when Tyler decided to launch a solo project. Next month, Tyler will release a country album called We’re All Somebody From Somewhere. The decision irked Tyler’s Aerosmith bandmates.
“If I didn’t know him when I heard the song I’d go, ‘It’s okay, next,'” guitarist Joe Perry said of Tyler’s debut country record. “He’s got a fucking rhinestone cowboy hat going, ‘Yippee ki yay.’ I don’t know what else to say about that.” Tyler responded, saying, “Jealousy runs deep in this family.”
Listen to Tyler’s interview with Stern:
