Aerosmith retires from touring after 54 years
By Rachel Walz
Hard rock group Aerosmith has made the decision to cut their farewell tour short after over fifty years of touring, citing a previous injury to lead singer Steven Tyler’s vocal cords and an insufficient recovery. This puts an effective end to the storied five decade career of a band that dominated the hard rock scene of the 70’s.
The band formed in 1970 in Boston, and recorded their eponymous debut album in 1973. The album did moderately well, with its lead single “Dream On” hitting the Billboard Top 100. But it wasn’t until 1975’s “Toys in the Attic” and 1976’s “Rocks” that the band would truly capture its audience.
“Toys in the Attic” was Aerosmith’s most financially successful album, with songs like “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way” becoming some of the band’s most popular songs. “Rocks” has majorly influenced many rock and metal artists; Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain considered it one of his favorite albums, and both Guns n’ Roses’ Slash and Metallica’s James Hetfield cite “Rocks” and Aerosmith as inspiring them to learn guitar.
Aerosmith would undergo a rough patch near the end of the 70’s. Increasing stardom and drug addiction affected the band’s cohesion as a unit. Both guitarists, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, left the band during this period, and the band struggled with heavy metal bands killing album sales and Steven Tyler’s drug addiction worsening. Even a reunion with Perry and Whitford for 1985’s “Done with Mirrors” flopped, and the band was seen as a joke.
In 1986, hip-hop group Run-DMC recorded a cover of “Walk this Way” with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, which renewed attention on Aerosmith and landed at number four on the Billboard charts. The band’s next album, “Permanent Vacation,” managed to sell over five million copies, and the now-sober band was revitalized with a pop metal sound that would persist on “Pump” and “Get a Grip.”
While subsequent albums would never quite reach Aerosmith’s peak, they continued to record and tour, with their first and only #1 single “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing” being recorded for the soundtrack of 1998’s “Armageddon,” which starred Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv. The band played the half-time show at Super Bowl XXXV in 2001, alongside pop artists like N’SYNC, Britney Spears and Nelly. 2001 would also see the release of platinum album “Just Press Play,” and Aerosmith’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Aerosmith also managed to make their mark in popular culture. The band played as themselves in “Wayne’s World 2” as headliners of the “WayneStock” festival and in “The Simpsons” episode “Flaming Moe’s,” being one of the first high profile music groups to do so.
In 2011, Steven Tyler spent two seasons as a judge on “American Idol.” The band also made appearances in video games like the arcade game “Revolution X” and the first band-exclusive rhythm game, “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith,” which is considered the top selling game out of both the “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” series.
By 2019, Aerosmith had slowed down to a Las Vegas residency, which would be canceled due to COVID-19 and resumed in 2022. While the band had intended to launch their farewell tour in 2023, Steven Tyler fractured his larynx a week into the tour, forcing the band to delay future dates another year. The band held out hope of finishing the tour before the confirmation on Aug. 2, 2024 that they would no longer be going ahead with the tour as Tyler’s voice had not sufficiently recovered. New music was not ruled out, but the band is done touring, marking the effective end of another iconic band.
The members of Aerosmith have left their mark on rock history, with a half-century long career filled with many highs and lows. The band remained largely unchanged in lineup, but continued to experiment with various forms of rock, blues and metal within that time. Bands like Van Halen, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, Testament, Motley Crue, and Guns n’ Roses have cited Aerosmith as an influence. Though their touring days are done, the music will live on, in playlists, music collections, films, video games and most importantly of all, in the hearts of their fans.
