NEWS
Joe Perry has revealed that Aerosmith are “talking about” the possibility of reuniting for one final concert together.
The rock legends announced their abrupt retirement from touring in August last year after frontman Steven Tyler suffered a serious vocal cord injury. The band’s final live show was held as part of their ‘Peace Out’ tour, which began in 2023, but only saw the band play three shows.Tyler did return to the stage for the first time in February for a charity event that saw him sing a number of Aerosmith classics, including ‘Walk This Way’, ‘Dream On’ and ‘Sweet Emotion’. That was followed by a similar event in April that saw Tyler and Perry reunite on stage for the first time in two years.
Now, in a new interview on Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation, Perry has raised the prospect of another full Aerosmith show somewhere down the line.
“We’re talking about it,” he said. “I mean, except for like, anything on the calendar, we’re all alive and well, so, you know, we’ll just have to see, you know? I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I’m not looking forward to putting the set list together for that one, but I don’t know, man. We’ll just have to see.”
When asked whether Tyler is physically able to play a full show, Perry added: “You know, I think he would. I think it’s just a matter of getting there.”
Tyler recently made another high-profile public appearance at the Black Sabbath ‘Back To The Beginning’ farewell show, where he played alongside Ronnie Wood, Travis Barker and others on ‘Train Kept A Rollin’, ‘Walk This Way’ and ‘Whole Lotta Love’.
Following the announcement that Aerosmith’s touring days had come to an end, numerous famous faces shared their sadness at the news. Queen’s Brian May said that the announcement “brought a tear” to his eye, while Sammy Hagar shared his long history with the members, calling the retirement “a great fucking loss”. It was later confirmed that fans could watch the band’s final ever show on YouTube in 4K quality.
Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, a personal friend of Tyler’s, said in February that he did not expect the singer ever to tour again. “Steven cannot put himself under the rigours of doing a full worldwide tour because there’s a lot of pressure,” he said.
“And if you’re not a singer, you wouldn’t understand what he goes through, but he’s 77 years old and he’s a perfectionist. And if he doesn’t sing correctly, it bothers him.”
NEWS
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe has shared fresh details about his long awaited first solo album, revealing that the process has taken more time than he originally planned.
Since R.E.M. officially went their separate ways in 2011 on good terms, Stipe has only put out a small number of tracks under his own name. Among them is ‘I Played The Fool’, which he recorded with Andrew Watt, Josh Klinghoffer and Travis Barker for the recently released series Rooster earlier this week.
Even so, he has quietly been developing his debut solo record for quite some time. Speaking recently with The Times, he offered fans a clearer picture of how the project is coming along.
“I’m working on a solo album,” he said. “But it’s taken longer than I wanted.”
Talking about what slowed things down, he explained: “Covid didn’t help, but I’m finishing it. When the band split, I just needed a break. I took five years but I got pulled back into music. It’s been a struggle. That’s the main thing. I want it to be great, but I’ve got the pressure of having been in R.E.M. and it’s a high bar, because I want this to be as good as that, and that’s near impossible.”
“So it’s fucking exciting but also terrifying, and I’m doing the music for the first time too, and I think I’m good at it but not great,” he added. “But I love my voice. I don’t like my speaking voice but I love my singing voice, and I so want to immerse myself back into offering music to the world.”
The conversation also confirmed that Stipe still has eight tracks left to complete before the album is finished. He mentioned that he is now working toward a target date and is aiming for a release sometime before the end of 2026. He also joked that the project could possibly carry the title ‘Meet THE Michael Stipe’.
Earlier solo material from Stipe includes the 2019 release ‘Your Capricious Soul’, followed by ‘Drive To The Ocean’ in 2020. That same year he also collaborated with Aaron Dessner’s Big Red Machine on the track ‘No Time For Love Like Now’.
Reports suggest that Stipe continues to have a positive relationship with his former R.E.M. bandmates Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. The group reunited publicly in summer 2024 when they were honored with induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
During that event, the four musicians surprised the audience with an acoustic performance of their 1991 hit ‘Losing My Religion’. It was the first occasion they had performed together since their appearance at the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.
Earlier this month, Stipe also made a guest appearance with Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy during one of their ‘Lifes Rich Pageant’ 40th anniversary shows in Brooklyn. Together they performed R.E.M. songs ‘These Days’ and ‘The Great Beyond’. The previous year he had also joined them for a performance of ‘Pretty Persuasion’.
Recently, Stipe has also been revisiting the lyrics of ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ on Bluesky, pointing out that listeners have misunderstood several of the words for many years.
