Steven Tyler’s been telling the press that Aerosmith will play the American Idol finale this month, but a new report in the Boston Herald says that, according to those in the know, the band’s managers have yet to sign on to the idea.
“Oh yeah, we're playing the last show of the season,” Steven told Rolling Stone recently. “When I came on board, of course they were talking about, ‘Are you going to sing with the contestants?’ I said I'll do a song, sure, but it was always my intention, always, to get Aerosmith on the show. I mean, Joe's [Perry] done it. I'm ready for it. I would love to play with Aerosmith.”
Perry played the Idol finale in 2007, backing up Sanjaya Malakar on The Kinks’ classic, “You Really Got Me.” Beyond that, Perry hasn’t expressed any interest in returning to the show, perhaps because Tyler joined the program without discussing it with the band. At one point last fall, Perry referred to Idol as “one step above (Teenage Mutant) Ninja Turtles,” and said that he didn’t want Aerosmith’s name associated with the reality TV show.
In March, Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe announced that Aerosmith would take the stage sometime this season, possibly during the show’s big finale in May, but more than likely before that.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Perry told the Boston Herald at the time. “No one’s said a word to me.” Ditto for his bandmates and manager.
Perhaps Lythgoe let the cat out of the bag too early, because Tyler kind of backtracked, at the time, on his assertion that Aerosmith would play the show. “I want to be honest about this and I don’t want to get myself in trouble because I haven’t asked the guys yet,” Tyler told an interviewer. “I’m sure they will.”
As recently as May 6, I noticed something odd about Tyler’s discussion with Tonight Show host Jay Leno on the subject. When asked if there was any chance Aerosmith would play, Tyler began his answer with “Ya, I’m trying to…” before failing to complete the thought – however, he did say the word “See!!” while pointing at the camera, suggesting he may still have been trying to “will” it to happen even just last week. “No, we’re gonna…we’re gonna play the last show. I’m not supposed to say it…”
(Watch Tyler on Leno here; the above conversations starts at 2:08 in part 1.)
Is this all a charade to build hype, or is the dsyfunctional family we’ve come to know as Aerosmith still trying to find its way forward in 2011?
Stay tuned.
Aerosmith Aerosmith – Draw The Line
You Gotta Move DVD (2004)
See also:
VIDEO: Steven Tyler – (It) Feels So Good
Aerosmith drummer to appear on The Simpsons season finale
Steven Tyler: (It) Feels So Good single premieres
Steven Tyler presents MusiCares Award to Dave Gahan
VIDEO: Steven Tyler on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Steven Tyler: Aerosmith will play American Idol finale
VIDEO: Steven Tyler on Dateline NBC with Matt Lauer
