Joe Perry Talks Aerosmith’s ‘Options’ for Future
Although Steven Tyler recently said that Aerosmith were “probably” going to embark on a farewell tour next year, Joe Perry now says the band is only “considering” it as an option. “A farewell tour is something we’ve talked about doing for years, let’s say roughly in the last five years,” he tells Rolling Stone. “It’s just something the band’s talked about at various times. At this point, the five of us have never sat down and said, ‘It’s time to do it.’ So ‘considering’ is an appropriate word for that statement. A farewell tour is definitely not confirmed.”
Instead of thinking about the end, the guitarist is looking forward to the band’s South American tour this fall. From there, they will discuss Aerosmith‘s future. “We’re talking about some different options at this point,” he says. “Whether it’s to do some shorter tours like the last couple we’ve done or go into the studio and knock a few songs out and see how that feels, I’m not sure yet. But right now we’re really taking time off from the band and everybody’s off doing their own thing.”
Many of the band’s members have been keeping busy during Aerosmith’s hiatus. Perry is in the studio working on songs that could go down three avenues: a solo record, Aerosmith or his supergroup with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, Hollywood Vampires. He also has a North American tour with the supergroup set for the summer. Tyler has his country record. Brad Whitford has a new collaboration with Ted Nugent singer Derek St. Holmes. Overall, the guitarist says that time apart has been a positive thing.
“It’s very rare you get this much time, considering the way we’ve always been on the road or been in the studio doing whatever, so it’s been a good time to do some of these other projects,” Perry says. “Steven has been off working really hard on his solo thing. I know it’s something he’s always wanted to do. He puts so much into Aerosmith, he’s never really given himself the time to do this, so it’s worked out really well for him. I don’t really hear from him much but I wouldn’t expect that I would considering he’s working on a record and doing gigs and the whole thing. But when things start gearing up, we start rehearsing for the South American tour, I’m sure we’ll start forming a plan for the next year or two or whatever.”
Perry says, though, that he doesn’t want Aerosmith to end right away. “It’s getting to be about that time, but I’m really looking forward to the Vampires thing,” he says. “And I know Brad’s doing stuff with Derek and they’re buddies from way back. Everybody’s got stuff that they’re doing, so it’s kind of up the middle. It’s inevitable that once we get back together I’ll be ready to play ‘Dream On’ again.”
Aerosmith may be contemplating a farewell tour in 2017. Watch the latest from singer Steven Tyler.