PEOPLE Aerosmith

By Meredith Corporation

At a time when all the best rock-n-roll was thought to be British, with the Beatles and the Stones dominating the airwaves and charts, a distinctly American rock band emerged out of Boston. Now, in honor of their 50th anniversary, this special edition celebrates that iconic rock band: Aerosmith. Revisit their best moments from their 70s glory days, their wild ways of the 80s & 90s, and their growth into elder statesmen of rock for the 21st century. Of course, this includes discussion of their greatest hit songs and best music videos. Plus, enjoy new interviews with the band's frontman, Steven Tyler; guitar hero Joe Perry; plus, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joe Kramer as they look back on their half a century of worldwide rock success. This special edition is packed with photos, including exclusives from the stage and behind the scenes of their Las Vegas residency. Go ahead, Dream On!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meredith Corporation
• Release date: Jan 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781547850389

Book preview

musicians.

Let the Music Do the Talking

Aerosmith’s success speaks for itself—with a record-breaking number of multiplatinum albums. Here, a look back in pictures at their early days and fast rise

STILL ON TOP Steven Tyler (left, with Brad Whitford) in concert at Las Vegas’s Park MGM Theater, where Aerosmith are celebrating their 50th year with a residency through June.

BORN ROCKERS

‘I had a great life in the woods with my slingshot and BB gun. . . of course nobody believes me when I say, You know I’m just a country boy’

—STEVEN TYLER

BEFORE THEY WERE AEROSMITH Though they are associated with the bohemian Allston neighborhood in Boston, most of the band members spent at least some of their childhoods running wild in nature. Summers at Lake Sunapee, N.H., turned my life around, writes Joe Perry (in Davy Crockett mode) in his memoir Rocks: My Life In and Out of Aerosmith.

Tom Hamilton was born in Colorado and spent time in New London, N.H. Steven Tyler also recalls swinging from Tarzan vines near the reservoir in Yonkers, N.Y., where me and my [pet] raccoon would go fishing.

Before moving close to Tyler’s family, Joey Kramer communed with urban wildlife in the Bronx.

Brad Whitford is the lone native Bostonian, whose ties to the band have held for nearly 50 years.

TAKING WING With Dream On a local radio hit, Aerosmith created a frenzy at a Boston College show (in 1973). It featured a primitive version of their logo and, already, scarves on Tyler’s microphone stand.

SOUNDS FOR A NEW WORLD Early on, Aerosmith (rehearsing in 1972) emulated British rockers Cream and Led Zeppelin. We couldn’t think of an American band like that, Hamilton told Rolling Stone in 1990. We wanted to be the first one.

SHIRTS OPTIONAL With their debut LP not yet out, Perry and Tyler posed in 1972 on Boston’s Newbury Street in anticipation of stardom.

‘[Today] we’re just the same garage band we were when we were putting it together in our 20s’

—JOE PERRY

ALL SMILES The so-called Bad Boys from Boston (clockwise from left, Whitford, Hamilton, Tyler, Perry and Kramer) on a good day in 1977.

HITTING THE HEIGHTS Holding on to success meant near-constant touring in the ’70s, ’80s and much of the ’90s. Tyler and Perry enjoyed a rooftop rest (in 1986).

REFUELING Hamilton and Whitford paused for refreshment backstage at a 1981 concert.

‘You have to be serious to make sure it’s as good as it can be, but for me, making records was just a blast’

—TOM HAMILTON

ROARING BACK By 1990, when they headlined the U.K.’s Monsters of Rock Concert at Castle Donington, Aerosmith were enjoying an astonishing career resurgence—far from their last.

When you’re 13 years old, watching The Beatles on TV and [thinking] Damn, that’s a great thing. How do they do that? ’

—BRAD WHITFORD

Dream Until Your Dreams Come True

First meetings. First songs. First high school gigs. The same five guys who shared a Boston apartment 50 years ago sit down today to tell how Aerosmith began

1970-1979

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

HIGH POINT Backstage in May 1976, Tyler, Hamilton, Perry, Whitford and Kramer had reason to celebrate: They had just released Rocks, which instantly went platinum. It was probably the first record where we were in total control of the studio, says Perry today.

IT BEGAN, AS STORIED MARRIAGES HAVE, with a summer encounter. In 1969, in the lake resort town of Sunapee, N.H., Steven Tallarico, a local legend who had sung in five failed bands by age 21, was mowing his parents’ lawn. When he came driving by, it was out of a movie, says Steven Tyler (who dropped his given surname, Tallarico, in 1972). He was Joe Perry, 18, a fellow seasonal resident. Joe invited Steven to see him play guitar in the Jam Band, the bar act at the Barn, which featured Tom Hamilton, 17, on bass. They couldn’t sing, they couldn’t tune their instruments, they were sloppy, and they just sucked, Tyler would later recall. But they had a groove that was better than any sex I’d ever had up to that point. Says Perry today: "He saw in me what he