Aerosmith looking to replace Tyler (Updated)

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Updated:

It's been another eventful week in the life of Aerosmith. First, Joe Perry surprised everyone by announcing that he and his bandmates have begun a search to replace Steven Tyler, the flamboyant frontman who's been esconsed at the Betty Ford Center treating a dependency on pain killers. "The rest of the band wants to play. And I want to play with the other guys in Aerosmith," Perry told Canada's QMI Agency. "So the four of us are just making our plans. We're gonna find somebody to get in there and fill that spot." Then, a California newspaper reported that Tyler was in a bar with a few friends this week and did karaoke. According to The Desert Sun, Tyler walked into the Tilted Kilt pub during a karaoke competition, and when two amateur singers were booed for their rendition of Aerosmith's “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” the rehabbing rocker grabbed the mic and started singing. Tyler finished the song, but not wanting to draw a crowd, soon after grabbed his coat and left.

Just when we thought Aerosmith might be about to get back in the saddle, guitarist Joe Perry said yesterday that he and his bandmates have begun a search for a singer to replace Steven Tyler. Perry told Canada's QMI Agency that the group is "already getting the word out there. The word's been out there for a while." Following his Canadian tour with Motley Crue, which ends Feb. 5 in Montreal, Perry said Aerosmith will "start having some auditions, making some phone calls. Hopefully, we'll have found a new singer by the summer, and Aerosmith will be able to go back out on the road." Whoa. Last month, Tyler announced he was entering rehab for an addiction to painkillers. At the time, he said he planned to "enthusiastically be writing, recording and performing with Aerosmith as soon as things are handled." But it appears Perry and Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer aren't willing to wait. "It's kind of hard to get a straight answer about what's going on," said Perry, who's out promoting his solo CD "Have Guitar Will Travel." "(Tyler) has to have leg surgery and foot surgery and it's basically going to take him out of the picture for about a year, year and a half. So, in the meantime, the rest of the band wants to play. And I want to play with the other guys in Aerosmith. So the four of us are just making our plans. We're gonna find somebody to get in there and fill that spot. Just like when Tom was sick -- we got David Hull to come in and play bass. When Brad was sick, we got somebody else to come in and play for him. That's basically how I look at it; we need another singer to fill in." Perry didn't mention any names, but said there are "a few people we've talked to, and we'll see how it goes ... As far as auditions go, we'll probably just sit around and have a couple of drinks and see if we get along. Because we're already gonna know that they can sing." Perry said it's possible he and Tyler could together again. "I'm ready to write with him, to play on stage with him anytime he's physically ready and wants to do it," Perry said. "But it's really up to him ... And the last things he said to the press were that he wanted to work with the band and sing with the band, so we'll see."