Aerosmith Meet Barack Obama By Chance at Florida Airport
Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry had a surprise encounter with President Barack Obama Friday after the band’s jet landed at the same Florida airport as Air Force One.
Aerosmith was returning from their South American tour when their plane landed outside Orlando, Florida. The band’s plane first planned on leaving the airport before Air Force One shut down air traffic, but they ended up getting stuck on the runway, Vanyaland reports. Obama was visiting Florida to campaign on behalf of Hillary Clinton.
“No better way to finish a beautiful South American tour,” Tyler tweeted along with a photo of him and Perry sitting on Air Force One’s stairs. “From Aero Force One to Air Force One… the best Welcome Home ever.”
According to Perry, when Obama heard Tyler and Perry were on the tarmac, he invited them aboard his plane for a meet-and-greet. “We’re sittin’ on the runway, we’re lookin’ at Air Force One and we got out, took some pictures and the next thing you know, we’re on the plane being given a tour,” Perry said.
While Tyler had briefly talked with Obama in 2010 at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony for Paul McCartney, Friday marked the first time Perry met the president.
“This was the first time I’ve ever met a president, a seated president; it was pretty flipped out — and it was definitely worth the wait,” Perry said. “It was one of those things where if we planned, something would’ve screwed up. But after a month in South America? Something like that? Hey — you know? The ‘Bad Boys from Boston’ you know? Steven and I have had some pretty cool adventures, but this one is right up there.”
The Obama meeting only lasted a few minutes, but Perry recognized the importance of his surroundings. “It was pretty amazing to stand there in that conference room where so much has gone down over the years,” the guitarist told Vanyaland. “Think about Colin Powell and all those guys… Kissinger and all them on that plane.”
Despite being a tried-and-true Conservative, Perry admitted that Obama is “pretty amazing.” “I had a bunch of questions I wanted to ask him, but as it was, he was coming back from a long day of stumping for… the Democrats,” Perry said. “Being a Republican, I still have a lot of respect for the office, you know? Sitting there with the Commander-in-Chief and leader of the free world… it was really cool.”
Joe and Steven hanging out with President Obama on Air Force One today in Orlando Florida. pic.twitter.com/7khzsHhBeN
— Aerosmith (@Aerosmith) October 29, 2016
While Obama has about three more months remaining in his presidency, Aerosmith’s future is far more tenuous.
NO BETTER WAY TO FINISH A BEAUTIFUL SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR…FROM AERO FORCE ONE TO AIR FORCE ONE…THE BEST WELCOME HOME EVER @POTUS pic.twitter.com/7TyPVmSplZ
— Steven Tyler (@IamStevenT) October 29, 2016