The band will headline both the Swedish Rock Festival and England’s Download Festival this summer. This is a pretty big deal for all 1,000 80’s hair metal fans in Europe, and American fans will be just as excited. If the original lineup can cooperate overseas, imagine the possibilities of a country-wide USA tour!

Steven Tyler will have to graduate rehabilitation for his painkiller addiction, but once that happens Aerosmith will be able to rock the rest of the west.

-Zack Kraimer

currently listening to “Hallelujah I Love Her So” by Ray Charles

Tyler didn’t actually make the statement; his attorney, Skip Miller, said it in a letter to Aerosmith’s manager, in which he compared their actions to the Rolling Stones seeking a replacement for Mick Jagger. Really, though, that comparison isn’t so far fetched. Tyler is the most charismatic member, and he’s the face everyone knows of Aerosmith.

Essentially, the civil feud between the members of Aerosmith is becoming more of a legal battle than anything else, with the men in question not actually speaking to each other. It’s hard to be sure if the band even remembers how this fight started; all we can discern is our own opinion of a new Aerosmith, one without Steven Tyler’s trademark squeals and with a new, unfamiliar face. It seems unreal, and it could easily happen, but that’s exactly what Tyler’s lawyer is out fighting against.

-Zack Kraimer

currently listening to “Just A Little Heat” by the Black Keys

Steven Tyler performs "Don't Want To Miss A Thing" at a local karaoke bar.

So what’s Steven Tyler been up to since his entry in rehab? He’s been relaxing… in bars. Not only has he been spending his free time in classy establishments like the Tilted Kilt, but he’s been singing his own songs on their karaoke night!

Yep, it’s true. As two devoted fans got booed off the karaoke floor during a failing rendition of “Don’t Want To Miss A Thing,” Tyler stepped onstage and saved his tune from the chopping block. According to eyewitnesses, he whipped the whole place up in a frenzy, with everyone in attendance singing along.

Tyler, who is currently in rehab for a painkiller addiction, met at the Tilted Kilt pub near his clinic with his management team, and it appears that he was jonesing for some stage time, not pills.

This seems like a new low for Steven Tyler; first band tensions, then surgery and rehab, and now he’s performing his own songs at karaoke bars. With the rest of the band on the prowl for a “temporary” Tyler replacement, it seems like his career probably depends on his success in rehab. Here’s a helpful hint, Steve; you probably should steer clear of the bars right now, and wait to sing your band’s songs until you at least have live accompaniment.

-Zack Kraimer

currently listening to “Security” by Otis Redding

After their longtime singer Steven Tyler recently checked into rehab, which surely shocked everybody, there have been some tensions floating back and forth between guitarist Joe Perry and Tyler. Perry says that to his knowledge, Tyler isn’t out of the band, for whatever that’s worth, and that while Steven is off doing his own thing, the rest of the band still wants to play together.

At the very least, we can take comfort in the fact that since Aerosmith has been one of the biggest names in rock music for decades, they’ll find a competent, if temporary, replacement. We can only hope that it won’t be another case of Paul Rodgers replacing Freddie Mercury — that is, someone with shoes to fill that are entirely too big.

Seriously though, Joe Perry, what’s the point? Steven Tyler has always been the standout persona behind Aerosmith’s image, and with him gone, things can’t possibly be looking up for them. Only time will tell, I suppose. Best of luck to you, “Aerosmith.”

-Zack Kraimer

currently listening to “Train Kept A Rollin’” by the Yardbirds

The 61-year-old Tyler has expressed interest in returning to perform with his bandmates, so an Aerosmith’s farewell tour doesn’t seem apparent. He’s been to rehab and recovered so many times over the past few decades that this one hardly comes as a surprise to people in the know, but also leaves them with a sense that he’ll probably do swimmingly in rehab and return to the stage in no time. He might be adding a notch on the wall of rockstar statistics, but we should applaud his determination to continue doing what he loves; it seems we’ll see an onstage homecoming in no time.

-Zack Kraimer

currently listening to “Apple Blossom” by the White Stripes