And Then Steven Tyler Said He’s Not Leaving Aerosmith

Whichever vocalists are out there practicing their best Steven Tyler impersonation – yeah, go ahead and forget all that. It seems that Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler has decided he still wants to be ‘Aerosmith lead singer.’ Tyler joined Joe Perry on stage at the Fillmore in New York City Tuesday night to quell rumors of his departure from the group.

“New York, I want you to know… I’m not leaving Aerosmith,” Tyler told fans during a concert by the Joe Perry Project, NME.com reported. Tyler and Perry, collaborators for close to 40 years, then ripped into a version of “Walk This Way.”

Click below to watch footage of Steven Tyler announcing he’s not quitting Aerosmith from Tuesday night.

Tyler crept out from whatever hole he’s been in at just the right time because the rock world was close to exploding with all the conjecture over who was going to replace the legendary singer in the legendary band. The hullabaloo began after Tyler’s interview with Classic Rock magazine, where he said his next project was “…definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself — Brand Tyler.”

From there it did not take long for everyone to assume Tyler was readying a departure from Aerosmith. At least that’s what Joe Perry thought.

In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Perry remarked: “Steven quit as far as I can tell.” Then he hit Twitter to inform the fans that Aerosmith is “not splitting up” but “looking for a new singer to work with.”

After that it was wall-to-wall speculation over who would take up the lead vocal duties for the classic rock n’ roll band.

But now it looks as if we don’t need to think about how Axl Rose or Scott Weiland would handle “Toys in the Attic.” There were even rumors (awful, horrible rumors) that Adam Lambert could be a candidate to fill the debauched shoes of Tyler in a new version of Aerosmith. Let us pause to shudder at this nightmare scenario.

Even with Tyler’s declaration Tuesday night there still has not been any ‘official’ comment from the band’s top brass, so the feeling is that the Tyler/Aerosmith question remains in limbo. Yes, Tyler’s surprise appearance helps clear up things a bit, but this is rock n’ roll and these are delicate egos, so an official statement would help.

Who knows what Tyler is thinking. Maybe he seriously considered bailing to try something out on his own. To which most would say, ‘ good luck.’ Then again, being the lead singer of an iconic rock n’ roll band doesn’t suck, so why piss off the musical fates with some half-assed recording of golden oldies just to show the world you’re so much deeper than “Love In an Elevator.”

For now let’s be grateful the band is back together. They were apart (maybe) for like 24 hours, but if Steven Tyler is still the lead singer for Aerosmith then all is right in the world.

Are you happy Steven Tyler is not leaving Aerosmith?