Aerosmith News

A&E Network will embark on a musical journey that documents the creative process, work ethic, live performance and inner workings of a world called, "Aerosmith." In the two-hour special, AEROSMITH: YOU GOTTA MOVE, part of the ongoing A&E IN CONCERT series, premiering Friday, June 4, 9-11pm ET/PT, A&E will present a raw and in your face look at the band as they embark on their latest tour and create their newest album. Our cameras have no holds barred access to a world that has seldom been witnessed, but by only a few, throughout the bands four-decade-old career. We will be in the recording studio, we will travel along the road that has been traveled so hard, we will get inside the rehearsals where the band works up new material and reinvents the old, we will hear their comments even when we shouldn’t, and we will load-in with the crew and load out when the show moves on. The fans will make an appearance, along with the crew, management and team players that underpin the energy, will all play supporting roles.

AEROSMITH: YOU GOTTA MOVE will be a "Musical Documentary," recorded in the studio as well as delivered from the road where this band has spent most of their adulthood. Our performances will be a surprise selections, some familiar and some not, but all determined by the five band members who make this machine kick. There may also be a few surprises that could include sound check moments, impromptu jams and perhaps even some classic past performances never before seen. All of this textured and woven with a documentary story line that has yet to completely unfold.

A&E Executive Producer is Emilio Nunez. AEROSMITH: YOU GOTTA MOVE was Directed and Produced by music, film and video industry veteran Mark Haefeli. Haefeli’s most recent critical win came from producing and directing the two-hour TV special, "Paul McCartney Back In The US" as well as developing the number one selling DVD of all time for Capitol Records of the same title. "Paul McCartney In Red Square" premiered September 18, 2003 on the A&E Network. The two-hour concert film won unanimous critical acclaim with the New York Times calling the program "…fascinating film making and story-telling. Perhaps the last great Beatles story ever told." Other Mark Haefeli Productions include projects with Faith Hill, The Rolling Stones, and Elton John.

Aerosmith released the first full-length video from its critically acclaimed album, Honkin' On Bobo. Directed by Mark Haefeli with some help from one of the band's closest friends, the high energy camera work and editing allows Aerosmith to explode into every frame with the kind of raw, rough and raucous energy the legendary Boston rockers have made world famous.

Complementing the Deamon of Screamin' vocals of Steven Tyler and quintessential Joe Fuckin' Perry guitar work on this remade Aerosmith-style blues classic, "Baby Please Don't Go," is some of the best live-performance footage released of the band in recent memory. Taken from performances as far back as the first performance of "Baby Please Don't Go," the live footage is interlaced with images from a Deep South bluesy bar filled with locals jammin' to the track.

Band insiders said that fans might recognize one of the dancers as the blue-jean clad model on the back cover of Honkin' On Bobo. Steven Tyler recruited another dancer personally from the streets of New Orleans after he saw her lettin' go to a band of street musicians. Tyler, taken aback by the spirited display of free-form expression, knew he had to have her in the video.

The Aerosmith World Cafe session will air this Friday, May 14. It will include an extensive interview with host David Dye, and an historic acoustic performance with Steven and Joe of "Back Back Train" and "Hangman Jury."

The World Cafe airs regularly Monday-Friday with David Dye on over 160 AAA public radio affiliates across the US, with a minimum five million in audience. Fans can find their local station and showtimes by going to their website: World Cafe.org.

Berklee College of Music has honored Steven Tyler by announcing an online scholarship program in his name. The Steven Tyler Online Scholarship Program is designed to provide gifted musicians throughout the world with unique opportunities to attend Berklee from anywhere, enabling them to interact with renowned faculty and world-class music instruction.

Bringing together two industry originals, Sony announced that legendary Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, will appear in a broadcast advertising campaign premiering Monday May 3, on CBS. A rock star like no other, Tyler is boldly creative, uniquely stylish, incredibly powerful, and just keeps getting better. Precisely the image Sony hopes to convey about their company and products when the TV commercial, "Slo Mo," begins airing May 3, between 9:30-10:00 p.m. during CBS’ Two and a Half Men. The TV spot will also run on network and cable channels through July.

Starring alongside Tyler is the Cyber-shot® DSC-T1 digital camera, Sony’s pocket-sized camera that is always ready to take great pictures. The DSC-T1 comes to life in just over a second, ensuring that you’re always able to capture life’s moments as they happen whether they feature family, friends or famous rock stars.

"By appearing with rock icon, Steven Tyler, the DSC-T1 gets the rock-n-roll status it deserves for its edgy design, powerful features and roof-raising performance," said Allan Jason, director of marketing for Sony's Personal, Mobile and Imaging Division.

Aerosmith's Honkin' On Bobo debuted on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart at the Five-spot. Labeled by Vanity Fair as "... the rough and raucous blues album the Rolling Stones should have made years ago," Honkin' On Bobo continues to take the critics by storm; as fans line up to see America's favorite Rock Band "stick-the-landing" each night in one of the most critically acclaimed, high-energy tours of the year.

Meanwhile Joe Perry wrote an article about Chuck Berry for Rolling Stone, go get it, it's a good article. Also catch Aerosmith's celebrated classic rock guitar legend, Joe Perry, on CNN Headline News Wednesday, April 14th at 8:15PM and 10:15PM. Joe talks tour, album, and what it's like to be Joe Perry. The interview will continue to air throughout the weekend from Friday, April 16th to Sunday, April 18th.

With nearly two months to go before Aerosmith's March 30 release date for Honkin' on Bobo, guitarist Joe Perry swung by Boston radio station WBCN to give DJ Oedipus a private preview of the band's rollicking take on Big Joe Williams' "Baby, Please Don't Go." Oedipus, a friend of Perry's family for years, asked if he could play it on the air. Perry resisted at first, realizing that doing so would upset his label and manager. Then, with a smirk, he handed the disc back to the DJ and allowed him to share it with the masses.

"I felt like it was 1972, when you went up to a radio station because you know the DJ, and they put your record on the air," Perry said.

It wasn't the only time Aerosmith felt like they had stepped into the way-back machine and emerged in an era before their hair went gray. Many of the blues standards the band recorded for Honkin' on Bobo were tunes they used to jam on before they had an abundance of original material; behind the boards was producer Jack Douglas, who showed Aerosmith the ropes back in the day.

"After not working with him in the studio since '79, making the record with Jack was surreal," Perry said. "There were some times when we'd be rehearsing in the studio, and I'd look up and see him and it would be like a wicked flashback, like 20 years has passed, but not a moment has passed. That was pretty bizarre, but it was great."

Honkin' on Bobo features 11 covers of songs by artists including Fisher/Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell, Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson. There's also "The Grind," a slow, ballad-like original which sounds like a duskier "Cryin'."

"We had that one on the backburner for a couple months before we started this record," Perry said. "It had that R&B swing to it, so it fit the format of the kind of music we were doing. Some other originals didn't make the record because we didn't want anything to be too outside the sound of the rest of the songs."

The album was originally scheduled to come out late last year, but by July, when Aerosmith hit the road with Kiss, the record wasn't quite there. Rather than rush its release to coincide with the tour, Aerosmith decided to put Bobo on hold. They also recorded some blues covers live for possible inclusion. While they didn't end up using any of the live takes, Aerosmith liked the way the songs had evolved in concert, so they took what they had learned and applied it to the album cuts, recording much of it live in order to recapture their onstage spontaneity.

"Doing that brought back to focus what the strength of this band is, which is playing live," Perry said. "No matter how we get to it, we have to have some part of the record where the band is playing the songs live. There's nothing wrong with going in and fooling around with stuff afterwards to embellish it or put more ear candy on it, but for Aerosmith, the strongest record we can make is one where the songs stand on their own, and then we play them with all the fire that we would if we were standing in front of 10,000 people."

Even if Honkin' on Bobo doesn't resonate with the public, Aerosmith will consider the album a glowing success.

"It made us realize why we put up with each other's sh--, and why we have for so long," Perry said. "We play so good together. When we're all down there playing and I hear [drummer] Joey [Kramer] and I listen to what [guitarist] Brad [Whitford] is doing, man, that's what it's all about. And it's like that dream you had when you were 16 years old, where you're down in your basement and you're rocking out. Only this time it happens to be my basement, not the basement of my parents."

This fast-paced arcade style free online game features Joe Perry, famed guitarist with Aerosmith, as a dark but irreverent animated genie who can be magically summoned to help the intrepid saucier Chef Anthony. The brave little Chef dashes about fantastic landscapes scooping up ingredients to make Joe Perry’s spicey hot sauce, the Boneyard Brew, while avoiding the sour notes sent to stop him by his nemesis, the evil Axeman. Perry recorded the voice for the Genie and created the music for this project. Family members also got in on the fun of producing an online game. Perry says, "When we put the sauce out it was really a reflection of my own taste, and then to have it inspire these fun and creative people to develop the game, my family included, was a great adventure I never expected. It’s funny how it kind of parallels our own crazy lives. The game is a blast to play and I can’t wait to see what happens next."

Briar Lee Mitchell, who founded Star Mountain Studios with Richard Sternberg, created Genie Joe, Chef Anthony, and The Axeman. "This has been an amazing journey bringing these characters to life," says Mitchell, "made even more special by sharing the creative process with Joe and his entire family."

Play Genie Joe and the Axeman over at: Joe Perry’s Boneyard Brew.

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler will appear as himself in the upcoming film "Be Cool," the sequel to 1995's "Get Shorty." He'll begin shooting next week at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where he'll appear as a spectator during a sporting event. The rest of Aerosmith will likely show up during a performance scene and may also be featured on the soundtrack. The 2002 book "Be Cool" was written by Elmore Leonard, who included Aerosmith as characters in his story. Leonard met them after one of their shows in August 1997 and was so taken that he asked if he could write them into his book.

In "Get Shorty," the main character, Chili Palmer, was a mobster who traveled to Hollywood to collect on a debt and discovered the corruption and lunacy of the movie business. "Be Cool" details Palmer's experiences in the music business, in which he encounters a murder and has various run-ins with rockers, mobsters and a bodyguard who wants to be a singer. "Be Cool" is being directed by F. Gary Gray ("The Italian Job") and stars John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Christina Milian and Vince Vaughn. Andre 3000 plays the leader of a rap group called the Dub MDs, and other musicians are being courted.

"Be Cool" is due in theaters February 11, 2005.

In other news, the April cover of Guitar World drops to a knee in homage to guitar legends Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin in a feature article entitled Page & Perry Rock the Blues. Check it out.

After Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry present a Grammy on Sunday, they'll return to Boston to put the finishing touches on their long-promised blues album, Honkin' on Bobo, due March 30. The band hasn't yet decided on a single, and Perry said finding one that will work on modern radio is difficult. "I don't know if there's a top-40 radio hit in there," he said. "I'd like to see something with a hard bluesy vibe get played, but I don't know if there's anything like that on the charts right now. What we're doing definitely isn't hip-hop."

It also isn't exactly the blues — at least not your grandfather's style of blues. While Honkin' on Bobo will include covers of songs by Muddy Waters, Fisher/Hopkins and Blind Willie McTell, the tunes have been reinterpreted in a way that's distinctly Aerosmith.

"We started out by saying, 'We're not gonna try to define what blues is or fit what you think blues is,' " Perry said. "This is just our interpretation of the music that influenced us, and it was very easy to call it blues, but there's R&B, funk and other elements in there as well."

One reason Aerosmith decided to record a blues-based rock record was to get back in touch with their gritty roots. Not that they're tired of playing ballads like "Cryin' " and "Crazy," they just longed to revisit a place that existed long before commercial viability became a prime concern.

"When we did Just Push Play I thought that there were some good songs on there, but looking back at it, I can see that it certainly doesn't sound like the first record," Perry said. "I don't think we could ever sound like that again, but we can definitely take the attitude we had when we recorded those songs. On this record we worked to keep things more immediate and not really think about what's on the charts."

Aerosmith first announced they would record a blues album back in August 2002, and they entered the studio to begin the project in April 2003. The record was originally slated for release last September, but the band decided to record a handful of songs live during its tour with Kiss and possibly include them with the studio recordings. Further delays occurred after the tour, when the group decided to go back into Perry's studio and tweak some of the mixes.

Jack Douglas has been in the studio with Aerosmith working on the new record. While Douglas' last full project with the band was 1977's Draw the Line, he has returned over the years to work on various best-of packages. That ongoing communication allowed him to fully reconvene with the band for Bobo.

"This was the first time in a long time that we worked with him for any length of time, and it was great," Perry said. "I think it helped facilitate that feeling of a band being together and playing together in a room. He was the last person to do that with us from the beginning of the band's origin. He was there when we started to learn how to use a studio and he taught us a lot back then. So to have him there as a familiar face was important."

Aerosmith will hit the road with Cheap Trick on March 11 in Lubbock, Texas, for a tour that runs through June 28 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry will join co-presenter BB King at the 46th annual Grammy Awards. The legendary lineup will tear the envelope for the "Best Rap Video" award. The 46th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be presented in Los Angeles at STAPLES Center on Sunday, February 8, 2004. The show will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network from 8 - 11:30 p.m. (live in the East, tape delayed in the West), marking the 31st consecutive year the show has been broadcast on CBS.

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry have been added to the list of performers on Toby Keith's Shock N Y'All Super Bowl Party to air live on CMT Cross Roads at 10pm (ET), Saturday January 31, the night before the big game. Perry and Tyler will join previously announced guests Willie Nelson, Darryl McDaniels (a.k.a. DMC from Run DMC), Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sammy Hagar and jazz musician Wayman Tisdale. The Boston bad boys will join Willie Nelson for "Once is Never Enough" along with Toby Keith and his band. Tyler and Perry will also perform a second song "A Little Less Talk and A Lot More Action" with Toby Keith and his All Star Band including Hagar, Smith, McDaniels, and Tisdale. Be sure to tune in early to CMT Cross Roads.

Aerosmith will support their upcoming blues album, Honkin' on Bobo, with a forty-date tour, scheduled to launch March 11th in Lubbock Texas. The back to basics blueprint for Bobo extends into the band's itinerary, which sends the Aerosmith through major market cities, but not before stopping at some prominent rock & roll towns like Lubbock (birthplace of Buddy Holly) and Tupelo, Mississippi (birthplace of Elvis Presley). The tour is capped by a June 28th stop in Cleveland, Ohio, hometown for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Cheap Trick has been tapped to open.

Bobo, Aerosmith's fourteenth album, is slated for release this spring. Prior to the tour, Aerosmith will headline the pre-game festivities for Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston on February 1st.

The tentative tour schedule is as follows:

3/11: Lubbock, TX
3/13: El Paso, TX
3/15: Hidalgo, TX
3/17: Laredo, TX
3/19: Little Rock, AR
3/21: Bossier City, LA
3/23: Tupelo, MS
3/25: Lafayette, LA
3/27: Biloxi, MS
3/29: Pensacola, FL
4/1: Tallahassee, FL
4/3: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
4/5: Orlando, FL
4/7: Columbia, SC
4/9: Atlanta, GA
4/14: Philadelphia, PA
4/16: Dayton, OH
4/18: Quebec City, QC
4/20: Montreal, QC
4/22: Hamilton, ON
4/24: Green Bay, WI
5/4: Ames, IA
5/6: Peoria, IL
5/8: Madison, WI
5/10: Evansville, IN
5/12: Sioux City, IA
5/14: Winnipeg, MB
5/16: Saskatoon, SK
5/18: Edmonton, AB
5/20: Calgary, AB
5/22: Portland, OR
5/24: Boise, ID
6/2: Dallas, TX
6/4: Houston, TX
6/6: Birmingham, AL
6/8: Indianapolis, IN
6/9: Buffalo, NY
6/12: Atlantic City, NJ
6/14: Scranton, PA
6/16: Virginia Beach, VA
6/18: Pittsburgh, PA
6/20: Holmdel, NJ
6/22: Long Island, NY
6/24: Boston, MA
6/26: Hershey, PA
6/28: Cleveland, OH

A billion football fans will get primed for Super Bowl XXXVIII, Aerosmith-style when America's Band takes the stage to headline the pregame show. The biggest single-day sporting spectacular takes the field Sunday, February 1st, 2004 on CBS. Check local listings.

America’s premier rock ‘n roll band, Aerosmith, will headline the Super Bowl XXXVIII pre-game show at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 1. Super Bowl XXXVIII will be televised by CBS to an expected 130 million viewers in the United States and a potential worldwide audience of 1 billion viewers. The Super Bowl is annually the nation’s highest-rated TV program and the most-watched single-day sporting event. Game time is 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CST/3 p.m. PST.

Steven Tyler said, "The Super Bowl is Rock and Roll! It's sexy, it’s slammin’, it’s precision, it’s passion and pure energy. That’s Sweet Emotion to me." Houston will be home to the Super Bowl for the second time in history, the first coming 30 years ago. The festivities kickoff with a show entitled "Welcome to Houston—The Spirit of Texas" spotlighting the spirit, hospitality and unity of the great city of Houston and the state of Texas. Bob Best of Best Productions in Tampa, Fla. will executive produce his 20th pre-game show for the NFL. Michael T. Fiur will be the producer of the show.

Aerosmith, who opened the NFL season with a performance in Washington, D.C. at "NFL Kickoff Live," will perform in the finale of the pre-game show featuring a tribute to NASA. Additional performers featuring diverse musical talents will be announced soon. "We're proud to be part of this historical event," said Aerosmith's Joe Perry. "Rock n' roll and football, two uniquely American forms of entertainment, teamed up make for one hell of a blockbuster event."

In their nearly four-decade career, Aerosmith has achieved tremendous critical acclaim and commercial success with over 20 album releases and more than 100 million albums sold worldwide. The band, Steven Tyler (vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Brad Whitford (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass) and Joey Kramer (drums), has spearheaded some of the most important trends in pop music, from groundbreaking early 70’s heavy metal to the invention of the power-ballad to the first fusion of rock and hip-hop, and continues to obliterate the generation gap, making them the most enduring, and continuously exciting, force in American rock music. Aerosmith has earned an array of accolades, including Grammy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards, as well as an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001 and an Academy Award nomination in 1998.

Aerosmith recently concluded a U.S. concert tour with Kiss, which was one of 2003’s top grossing tours, and plans to release a new album entitled Honkin’ On Bobo (Columbia Records) this spring. The band will commence a US tour in the support of the album in March 2004.

Whitford & Tyler Each Join-In On Celebrity Charity Projects

Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell has joined Deborah Harry, Samuel L. Jackson, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford and others for the Disney album A World of Happiness, due February 2nd. They’re singing about lessons for kids, like being polite, learning from others and friendship. Farrell and Harry are together on the track "The Patience Bossa," one of two songs the Blondie singer performs. Billboard reports that a percentage of proceeds from the sale of A World of Happiness will be donated to children’s charities chosen by each of the performers on the album. Others who’ve participated include Lisa Loeb, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, and Magic Johnson.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler adds his inimitable special effects in his reading of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra lends his voice to "Monkey See, Monkey Do." They’re just some of the local celebrities heard on a children’s compact disc, to be released today by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and his citywide ReadBoston Literacy initiative. ReadBoston has printed 1,200 CDs, which will sell for $8 each at Newbury Comics stores, Roslindale Village Books, Rooche Brothers and Curious George Goes to Wordsworth Stores. All services were donated, and all proceeds benefit ReadBoston, executive director Theresa Lynn said. Others featured on the CD include Menino’s wife, Angela, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Joey McIntyre and Barry and Eliot Tatelman of Jordan’s Furniture fame.

Instead of holing themselves up in a studio as they have for past records, the members of Aerosmith chose to record their upcoming blues album at guitarist Joe Perry's ranch near Boston.

"I have a lot of motorized vehicles and plenty of firearms," Perry said. "It was a good time."

Fortunately no one in the band was mistaken for a deer and accidentally shot during a nature walk in the woods. But there was one mishap that could have jeopardized Aerosmith's recording plans and current tour with Kiss.

"We were riding around on dirtbikes and somebody forgot that I have a swimming pool," Perry said, refusing to name the scatterbrained individual. "They came up over the hill and slammed the brakes on really hard, and we got to see just how many times a dirtbike can go end over end. Fortunately there were no broken bones."

Even without any serious injuries to delay them, Aerosmith have bumped their record, tentatively called Honking on Bobo, from January to March in order to finish tweaking a few tracks. The disc will feature classic blues songs by Muddy Waters, Fisher/Hopkins, Blind Willie McTell and others done Aerosmith-style, and a few originals including "Into the Grind."

"It's kind of a response to what a lot of fans have been asking for," Perry said. "If I hear it once, I hear it a hundred times. People come up and say, 'Wow, I like your new stuff, but when are you gonna make a record that's really raw, and that sounds like the old Aerosmith?' With this one, we tried to keep the songs more immediate and not really think about what's on the charts. It was very reminiscent of the Rocks era."

The recordings were produced by Jack Douglas, who worked with the band from 1974 to 1979, and listening back to the songs, Perry is pleased with the spontaneity the band was able to capture in the studio. He's especially fond of versions of Mississippi Fred McDowell's "Back Back Train" and Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man," which Aerosmith reworked as "Never Loved a Woman." Perry also loves their take on Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go," but one reason the record has been delayed is because the band can't decide whether to go with a studio or live version of the song.

"We learned it and recorded it in the studio and it sounded great because it had a very spontaneous and unaffected air to it," Perry said. "But since we've been playing it live every night, it's started to take on this whole other vibe. We've been recording the shows every night, and one of those performances may be the one that ends up on the record because when you have 20,000 people cheering, that adds an extra level of intensity."

Singer Steven Tyler came up with the title Honking on Bobo, which everyone in the band seems happy with. But Perry admits that the name might not play so well from a marketing standpoint, and could be changed. "We like it because it's funny," he said. "It's one of those phrases that Steven said, and I don't know where he heard it from, but when he mentioned it, we all started laughing."

Laughter was an important part of the creative process for Honking on Bobo. Aerosmith didn't sweat out the songs. They didn't pull out their hair. They took their time, played only when they were in a good mood and gained inspiration by having fun and striving to be original.

"We wanted to do something we haven't done before and that excites us," Perry said. "That's what makes us want to do another record. Otherwise, we'd say, 'OK, we've done everything we can do, so why bother even going in again?’"

Aerosmith will tour with Kiss through December 20 in Fresno, California, and will head out again to promote their blues album early next year.

Aerosmith's former manager has filed a libel suit against the band for allegations the classic rockers made during their "Behind the Music" special. David Krebs, who managed the band from 1972 to 1984, filed suit in New York on Friday alleging that comments the band made on last year’s VH1 special suggested that he and his business partner stole or otherwise hid money from the band. Krebs said the allegations have tarnished his reputation and in a formal complaint his attorneys are preparing to file within the next two weeks, he plans to ask the band to issue a public apology and to make unspecified monetary reparations. Aerosmith had no comment on the suit, according to the band's spokesperson.

Krebs did not sue VH1, which aired the program last year, but he did impugn their journalistic methods and suggested that they re-edit the show. "I had [VH1] give me a full copy of my interview so I could see how they would mis-edit it," said Krebs, laughing. VH1 had no comment for this story.

The animosity between Krebs and Aerosmith dates back decades, with the New York Daily News reporting that the source of the problem might be linked to some deals Krebs and partner Steve Leber crafted in the early '70s, giving the pair a large stake in the band's publishing rights. Those types of arrangements were typical of the era, according to Krebs. Bandleaders Steven Tyler and Joe Perry complain in the episode about being broke in the early '80s, implying that Krebs and partner Steve Leber were the source of their financial woes.

"They're referring to the fact that they didn't have enough money [at the time], but they won't acknowledge that it went up their noses," Krebs said, referring to the band's well-documented struggles with drugs in the '70s and early '80s.

Asked if VH1 confronted him over the allegations made by the bandmembers in the special prior to the show's airing, Krebs said he could not recall. According to a transcript Krebs provided to the Daily News, when asked if he and Leber ever mishandled the band's money, Krebs told VH1, "Did we steal from them? No."

Krebs said he filed the suit after his daughter and several friends confronted him about the allegations in the program. "When the band's new management took over, they looked at our books with a fine-toothed comb and they said they couldn't find anything," said Krebs, who also used to manage Def Leppard, AC/DC and Ted Nugent. Krebs said he has tried for a year to reach Tyler prior to filing suit, but has not been able to speak to him about the issue since the show first ran.

"After many months of trying to speak to and meet with Steven Tyler to settle this amicably, I had to file suit," Krebs said. "We ran one of the most honest management companies of the '70s and '80s and built this band up block-by-block. The monetary part [of the suit] is a small part. It's about the retraction, apologies and setting the record straight."

Aerosmith, currently on the road with Kiss, are completing work on the tentatively titled "Honkin' On Bobo" blues-inspired album slated for release in January.

The first two arena dates for Kiss and Aerosmith have been announced. The bands will bring their coheadlining tour to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on October 24 and 25, less than a week after they finish their outdoor run in Devore, California, on October 18. The indoor dates are expected to go until about the end of the year, with further touring in 2004 a good possibility.

Public ticket sales for these two shows haven't been set yet, but both bands' fan clubs are having presale on tickets. Aerosmith and Kiss started their coheadlining tour, with opening act Saliva, on August 2 in Hartford, Connecticut. Their next show is Monday (August 11) at the P.N.C. Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Last year, the NFL began a new tradition: producing a football and music festival to kick off the season and to celebrate the resilient and indomitable spirit of America. On Thursday, Sept. 4, from the National Mall in Washington D.C., the NFL proudly renews this tradition with "NFL Kickoff Live 2003" presented by Pepsi Vanilla. The second-annual kickoff event has become a USO-type extravaganza. This year, to honor America’s Heroes, the Department of Defense will be bringing in over 25,000 troops to watch the show live onsite. Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige and other music superstars will be featured in the spectacular concert. With the nation’s capital as a backdrop, special guest Aretha Franklin will sing the national anthem to conclude the concert and officially open the new NFL season. The event will be televised live at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and will be followed by Game 1 of the 2003 season between the Washington Redskins and New York Jets.

Aerosmith and Kiss launched their coheadlining tour on Saturday (August 2) at the Ctnow.com Meadows Music Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Befitting their status as heavyweight champions, both bands came to win, but Aerosmith was declared the victor at the end of the night. Following a quick opening set by Saliva that was received fairly, if not enthusiastically, Kiss came out to their traditional "You Wanted The Best, You Got The Best" introduction and played a hit-filled 14-song set including "Detroit Rock City," "Shout It Out Loud," "I Love It Loud," "God Of Thunder," and "Rock And Roll All Nite."

However, the concert did not go off flawlessly. At the start of the show, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Tommy Thayer descended to the stage on a riser as lights and pyro started firing, but a problem with the curtain diminished the effect of their entrance. There were other glitches, including a bad sound mix that had Simmons' bass much louder than on past tours while Thayer's lead playing was sometimes buried, and Simmons messing up the lyrics in the second verse of "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll." Even with that, the band tried their best to deliver the usual Kiss spectacle. Stanley, Simmons, and Thayer were all over the stage throughout their set, which was filled with enough lighting and pyrotechnic effects to truly demonstrate the meaning of "shock and awe." Special notice is due Thayer, who has replaced Ace Frehley in the band, for not only looking the part, but playing Frehley's solos virtually note for note, much to the crowd's delight.

Kiss trimmed their set back due to time constraints, which meant Simmons didn't breathe fire, and there were no extended guitar or drum solos. Simmons, did, however, spit blood before "flying" to the top of the lighting rig for "God Of Thunder," and Peter Criss drum kit did rise off the stage during "Black Diamond." Simmons and Thayer also rode lifts off the stage while Stanley broke a guitar at the end of the set-closing "Rock And Roll All Nite," which also saw the drum set rise again. There were a few surprises in the Kiss set. One was the video history they played during the song "Do You Love Me" that charted the band from their earliest days through the release of their solo albums in 1978. It featured a lot of pictures and footage of Frehley, which might have been understandably edited out considering his decision not to work with the group again. Frehley's status wasn't discussed from the stage, and Thayer wasn't introduced. Another was their failure to use a ramp which ran about 20 rows into the audience from the center of the stage. Finally, the decision to go without the traditional confetti for "Rock And Roll All Nite" had a lot of people scratching their heads. The fans seemed to enjoy the show, but there was a feeling that they had seen a great fighter on an off night--still able to execute the moves, but not as crisply as usual, and susceptible to a knockout.

Before the tour began, Simmons said he was so confident in how well it would do, he even promoted it as a weight-control assistant. "The Kiss/Aerosmith tour, which is gonna be the tour of the year--this is a tour that's gonna kick anybody's butt," Simmons said. "This tour is gonna drop five pounds off any fat girl within a thousand yards of that stage."

Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry didn't go that far, but he told LAUNCH the tour would provide some serious entertainment. "Well, I'd say that it's gonna be as close to a circus as you can get," Perry said. "It's gonna be a lot of fun."

After a short intermission to change the stage, Aerosmith's road crew opened the curtain as the band kicked into a rousing version of "Let The Music Do The Talking," delivering a not-so-subtle message. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry spent a good amount of time out at the far end of the audience ramp, where they and bassist Tom Hamilton would return throughout their show. Playing on a fairly minimalist stage in contrast to Kiss, Aerosmith was tighter and more focused on the music. In keeping with that idea, Tyler didn't spend a lot of time talking to the crowd between Aerosmith's 16 songs, as Stanley had done throughout Kiss's set.

Aerosmith's set included hits such as "Walk This Way," "Love In An Elevator," "Dream On," and "Sweet Emotion." Without taking a break, they also had the road crew spin their stage amps around to create the effect of a bandstand in a small club, at which time Tyler said, "Blues album time. We're gonna break off a little piece. Joe, you ready?" They then played three blues songs--Little Walter's "Temperature," Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," which was renamed "I Never Loved Another Girl Like The Way I Loved You" on the setlist, and the blues standard "Baby Please Don't Go."

The new staging also revealed some neon-style signs, including one that said "Honkin' On Bobo," which is the working title of the blues album Aerosmith will release in January. Perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of people decided to use the blues portion of the show to make their runs to the bathrooms and concession areas.

Oddly, there was no formal encore for Aerosmith. Following "Back In The Saddle," Perry looked at his watch and asked the crowd, "You wanna hear one more?" After some hearty cheers, he asked, "How about two?", and the audience roared. Perry then said, "I think we got time," and Aerosmith played their last two songs--"I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" and "Sweet Emotion."

In contrast to the little mistakes that Kiss suffered through, Aerosmith's set appeared flawless, including a much better sound mix that allowed each member of the band to be heard clearly. While their set was about the music, Aerosmith did do something straight out of the Kiss handbook. Aerosmith set off a blizzard of confetti during two different songs--"Back In The Saddle" and "Sweet Emotion."

Only the most partisan of fans would say that Aerosmith scored a clean knockout--after all, even on a bad night, Kiss puts on a better show than most bands ever dream of doing. However, the general feeling in the venue was that Aerosmith won the first night's battle on points. Kiss and Aerosmith will go for a rematch on Monday (August 4) at the Tommy Hilfiger At Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York. The tour is currently scheduled to run until October 18, but they're expected to add shows that will keep them on the road until later in the year. Discussions are also underway to extend things until next year, which could include some overseas concerts.

The Kiss setlist: "Detroit Rock City," "Deuce," "Shout It Out Loud," "King Of The Night Time World," "Do You Love Me," "Let Me Go, Rock 'N Roll," "Firehouse," "I Love It Loud," "I Want You," "God Of Thunder," "100,000 Years," and "Black Diamond,” with the encore of "Beth" and "Rock And Roll All Nite."

The Aerosmith setlist: "Let The Music Do The Talking," "Walk This Way," "Love In An Elevator," "Jaded," "Rag Doll," "Cryin'," "What It Takes," "Temperature," "I Never Loved Another Girl Like The Way I Loved You," "Baby Please Don't Go," "Dream On," "The Other Side," "Back In The Saddle," "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," and "Sweet Emotion."

The rock gods of Kiss bow down to no one, except maybe Aerosmith. When the two bands start their tour together on Saturday in Hartford, Connecticut, Kiss' pyrotechnic extravaganza will be followed by the bluesy hard rock of Boston's finest. The show is being billed as a co-headlining tour, but it will be the first time since 1974 that Kiss will take the stage before another band night after night. So, how did Aerosmith get Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to agree to such conditions?

"Um, I'm not sure, actually," Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said. "I think it just kind of worked out that way. We're just glad to be closing the show, and I think it's gonna make for a whole rocking evening."

Of course, having to go on after an explosive display of blood-spitting, fire-breathing, levitation, makeup and costumes can be a daunting proposition, but for Aerosmith that's part of the kick.

"Not only is the audience warmed up beyond belief, but it makes you want to go out there and put on the best show you can," Perry said. "So in the end, the audience wins. It's gonna be the kind of experience that doesn't come around often."

Aerosmith and Kiss both emerged in the '70s and quickly climbed to the top of the hard rock scene. Aerosmith struck first in 1973 with Aerosmith, which featured the hit "Dream On." A mere 15 months later, the group issued its second disc, Get Your Wings, which featured a cover of the Tiny Bradshaw jump blues classic "The Train Kept a Rollin'" and "Same Old Song and Dance." A month later, Kiss drew blood with their self-titled debut, which included the classics "Strutter," "Firehouse," "Cold Gin" and "Deuce."

"We watched their meteoric rise right behind us," Perry said. "We're friends and our paths have crossed. I remember playing a few shows with them in the early '70s, but we've never toured together."

One reason fans have never been treated to a road trip of this magnitude is because the two bands' tour schedules have never allowed it. When Kiss zigged, Aerosmith zagged. But that wasn't the biggest problem.

"The idea of getting us to get together to share the same bill was easy," Perry said. "The harder part was technically fitting both shows on the stage. That was really tough."

During the tour, Aerosmith plan to play three or four songs from their upcoming blues album on a small revolving stage. They'll likely film these segments for possible inclusion on a DVD that may accompany their new disc, due in January. In addition to covers of songs by Blind Willie McTell ("Broke Down Engine"), Little Walter ("Temperature"), and Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters ("I'm Ready"), the blues album will feature four originals. "Those songs are cut from the same cloth as the other songs," Perry said. "Some of the riffs came out of the jamming and the rehearsals, so the songs fit in the format of the record."

While the record will include some shuffling rhythms and heart-ripping guitar and vocal passages, this won't be your grandpappy's kind of blues album. Aerosmith pay reverence to their influences for sure, but they modernize the oldies by playing 'em in their own style.

"Some of the songs sound like classic Aerosmith from the '70s," Perry said. "Others sound like old blues songs, but we had a really good time playing it all, and I think that translates when you hear the tracks. We really wanted to get back in the basement and play a live record. And this seemed like the obvious way to go."

Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley has said that his band is happy to share the stage with Aerosmith, and there's no ego involved.

"Well, you know, somebody has to go on first, and it really doesn't matter to us," Stanley said. "I mean, honestly, we do what we do, and nobody can do it better, as Aerosmith does what they do, and nobody does it better. This is a win-win for the audience, and it's a great chance for us to be sharing the bill with arguably the other premiere American band."

Kiss is touring to promote its new album the Kiss Symphony: Alive IV, as well as an upcoming DVD from the concert where it was recorded. The show took place February 28 at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia, with Kiss accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and the Australian Children's Choir.

Saliva will open every show, followed by Kiss, before Aerosmith closes each night. The tour runs through October 18 in Devore, California.

Early next year, Aerosmith will release Honkin' on Bobo, which, in addition to being a sexual reference, is an album of covers of classics by bluesmen such as Blind Willie McTell and Sonny Boy Williamson. "We wanted to do a blues album five years ago," says Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, 55. "Then Clapton did it, and it blew our novel concept right out of the tree." Aerosmith will preview a couple of these tunes on Rocksimus Maximus, their thirty-six-date co-headlining summer tour with Kiss. "With Pakistan and North Korea, the world's going to hell in a handbasket," Tyler says from his home outside Boston. "But Kiss and Aerosmith are gonna prove that two superpowers can make it together." Growing up, what were you listening to on the radio? In 1956, I got a little radio and ran the wire up to the top of the apple tree in New Hampshire. On those crisp New England nights, I picked up stations in Florida and WOWO from Fort Wayne, Indiana - stations that were just playing country & western - and a station in New Orleans, which played the Everly Brothers and a bunch of weird stuff.

Who are your favorite white blues singers?

I'd have to say Johnny Winter. Pound for pound, he kicks major ass. Then there's Stevie Ray Vaughan and Janis Joplin. I saw her -- I think it was at the White Plains [New York] civic center. I came out of the concert and listened to people talking in the parking lot. It was such a spiritual rock & roll come-together-type thing. I remember thinking, "That's it, man. That's what I want to do." Y'know, we actually toured with the Beach Boys back then.

And the Byrds, right? What odd pairings.

What about Kiss and Aerosmith? What about Jimi Hendrix and the Monkees? We're all a bunch of carnies, man. But tickets are selling like crazy, whereas Lollapalooza isn't. It's like foreplay: You start with a Kiss and end with Aerosmith.

What was your first impression of Kiss when they broke onto the scene in 1972?

I didn't know what to think. It was kinda hard to see them through all the makeup, y'know? It was a comic-book thing. Then we toured with them. We must have played two or three shows before one of their road crew pulled a knife on ours. Then we said sayonara. But back then, it was all about who could blow who offstage.

So you blew them off?

You always like to think you did.

Have Aerosmith ever been blown off?

Yeah, before I was married, by two girls: Missy and Charla from Michigan.

Looking out into an audience, what's the most amazing thing you've seen?

Someone waving a wooden leg. The girl with three tits, or two girls making out. Six-year-olds, sixty-year-olds. People watching Joe Perry with their jaw open. On the last tour, we went out with a long ramp so I could run way out into the crowd. I like to get out there amongst the sweat and the babies being born and people getting fucked up. All the good stuff.

Why does cocaine seem to fuel great records?

Drugs get you out of your own way and help you get to another side of yourself. You just don't want to get caught up doing them all the time, because then you lose the original force of creativity. I wrote a lot of great songs high, and I wrote better ones sober.

What, in your opinion, does rock & roll smell like?

Stale beer, cigarettes, pot and cheap perfume.

Was it an easy decision to license Aerosmith songs for commercial use?

Of course. What am I going to do, tell you that I'm Bob Dylan and that my songs are so credible that they can never sell a Buick? A song is a song. Once they come out of your body, they get to live the life they want to. It's not selling out.

What's your favorite young band?

I've had my head under the covers for a long time, but I'm big on the White Stripes. And I'm big on Radiohead. They're great live.

Dylan has been in the news for cribbing lyrics from a Japanese novel. Every great songwriter pinches a line here or there, right?

You betcha. Amateurs borrow, pros steal. As John Lennon said, and I believe he got it from the Indian Sanskrit readings the Upanishads, there's not a word that's never been said and not a sound that's never been heard. I mean, I stole "The light at the end of the tunnel may be you" [in "Amazing"]. Some guy wrote that in a book, and I stole it.

You're fifty-five. How old is too old to be a rock star?

How long are you going to jerk off? Till it doesn't feel good anymore.

Aerosmith and Kiss are finalizing plans to follow their summer tour of outdoor venues with a run of arena dates this fall, Billboard Bulletin reports. The acts stand to gross up to $46 million this summer from about 35 dates beginning Aug. 2 at ctnow.com Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, Conn. The new arena leg, which will comprise about 20 shows starting Oct. 24-25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, could add another $25 million to the year's tally. The tour could also move into international markets next year, according to Kiss manager Doc McGhee.

"We're talking about Australia and Europe next summer, but we've got to do this summer first. If everybody gets along and has fun, I'm sure it could continue," he says.

Several major markets will be revisited during the arena leg, including Boston, Detroit, New York and Los Angeles. Also on tap are secondary markets such as Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Grand Forks, N.D.; and Minneapolis.

"We always figured we'd be on the road until Christmas," Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry told Billboard.com last month. "And, apparently, in spite of what some of the other tours are doing, we're doing pretty well."

Coldplay isn’t the only band fighting off photographers. The New York Daily News reports that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler had an alleged run in with a photographer in New York last week.

According to an eye witness report in the New York Daily News story, last Thursday Tyler was on Prince St and a female photographer was following him. He suddenly turned around and took the photographer’s camera. The witness said, “He's shouting at her, and grabs her by the wrist, saying, 'Let's see how you like it. You're going to stand there until I tell you not to.' The girl is standing there completely humiliated, and he's taking pictures and pictures, and all the bystanders were laughing their ass off."

They've already finished their next record and they won't be hitting the road with Kiss for another three weeks, so Aerosmith have been keeping busy with various side projects. Last week frontman Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry contributed music to a piece that Public Enemy's Chuck D wrote for the introduction to the ESPY Awards. The cut, "Let's Get Loud," features music by the Aerosmith members and rapping by Chuck, Busta Rhymes, MC Lyte and Fife. The ESPYs will air July 16 on ESPN.

Also, look for Perry hamming it up on the Food Channel. On June 27, the guitarist shot a spot for "Food Finds," which will air in the fall. The segment will feature Perry talking about his tasty, hot licks; and not of the six-string variety. Perry will plug his Rock Your World Boneyard Brew barbecue sauce and demonstrate its many applications on fleshy food products.

Aerosmith's side ventures aren't limited to television. The bandmembers are also diving into home video and the silver screen. Guitarist Brad Whitford has a cameo in the movie "This Thing of Ours," while Perry contributes score music. The movie about Mafia bank fraud opens Friday and stars Danny Provenzano, James Caan, Frank Vincent and Vincent Pastore. The soundtrack, which may surface on Perry's Roman Records label, features the Porch Ghouls covering the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues." A video for the song, shot at Perry's house, will feature Tyler, Perry and various cast members. Porch Ghouls and Saliva are scheduled to open the Aerosmith/Kiss tour, which begins August 2 in Hartford, Connecticut, and runs through October 18 in Devore, California.

On November 5, Tyler will perform at the Musicians' Assistance Program's Stevie Ray Vaughan Award ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Jimmie Vaughan will also be honored by MAP, which provides help for artists struggling with substance abuse problems.

Aerosmith is eyeing "making of" footage from sessions for its forthcoming album for a possible home video release. Meanwhile, lead guitarist Joe Perry has contributed score music to the Small Planet Pictures film "This Thing of Ours," which opens July 18 in select U.S. cities. Aerosmith rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford has a cameo in the film. The band has recorded a blues album with producer Jack Douglas, who worked with the band on several of its 1970s albums, including "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks." The album tentatively titled Honkin' On Bobo is due early next year on Columbia Records.

"While making this record, we had a video camera on us 90% of the time," Perry tells Billboard.com. "Sony [Columbia's parent company] is talking about having CDs playable in all these different formats and in DVD players, so there are lots of opportunities to [utilize the] video."

Aerosmith previously chronicled the recording of the its 1989 album "Pump" on the 1990 home video documentary "The Making of Pump."

Perry's involvement in the film "This Thing of Ours" came about because he met the film's star/director, Danny Provenzano, through Aerosmith producer Douglas. Douglas and Lawrence Manchester also wrote score music for the film. The feature film drama, which also stars James Caan and Frank Vincent and Vincent Pastore of HBO's "The Sopranos," is about mafia members involved in a gigantic bank-fraud scheme. Perry says he is considering releasing the film's soundtrack on his Sony-distributed Roman Records label. Porch Ghouls, a Memphis-based rock band signed to Roman, has filmed a music video for their cover of the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues," which is used in the film.

"We filmed the video at my house," Perry adds. "I'm in the video and so are some people from the movie."

The guitarist reveals that he was chosen to have an acting role as a gangster type in "This Thing of Ours" but had to turn it down. "I was supposed to have a scene with James Caan but I was right in the middle of getting ready to do a tour, so I didn't have time to be in the movie. On very few occasions will I do something that takes time away from the band," Perry says. "After losing the band in the early '80s, I wouldn't want to do anything that would screw that up again." Perry exited Aerosmith following the release of 1979's "Night in the Ruts," formed the Joe Perry Project and released several albums before rejoining the band in 1984.

Aerosmith's track record for contributing music to films has ranged from the group's bad-boy turn in the 1978 musical "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to achieving the band's first No. 1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from the 1998 movie "Armageddon." This year Aerosmith contributed a new song, "Lizard Love," to the animated feature "Rugrats Go Wild."

Perry says of the band's diverse film choices: "We don't necessarily lean to one kind of film. We have a pretty loose attitude about those things. We've always chosen to do film music that reflects positively on the band." He adds that writing music for movies can sometimes be risky: "You never know how much of the music will make it into the final cut. All the directors we've worked with on films have the same intensity and love for their work and they help guide the process with feedback. If you don't want to work that way, then don't do film music."

As for the band's much-anticipated tour with Kiss, Perry promises that Aerosmith will have a rotating set that will differ each night. "We're going to do our hits but we're also going to do about four or five songs from the new album. We'll also do deep cuts from albums like 'Night in the Ruts' and 'Rocks,' songs that weren't big hits but are songs we haven't played live in a long time."

Perry adds that the band has been considering offers to do a TV special about the tour, although nothing has been finalized. In addition, expect to see Aerosmith as part of Martin Scorsese's "The Blues" documentary airing this fall on PBS. Although Aerosmith has seen its share of ups and downs through its 30-plus year career, Perry says the band will keep touring for as long as possible: "That's where we get our fire. We have an unspoken commitment to this way of life."

"It feels like we all took a break, went to summer camp and got laid for the first time," says Steven Tyler, describing Aerosmith's new blues-covers album, tentatively titled Honkin' On Bobo, due in January. Working with longtime producer Jack Douglas, the man behind 1975's classic Toys in the Attic, the band has tackled blues standards such as "Baby, Please Don't Go," "Roadrunner," "Broke-Down Engine" and "I'm Ready." The album will also feature a handful of new songs, including "Into the Grind," where Tyler scats and plays piano. All the tracks, however, sound like Aerosmith. "We're not blues purists," says guitarist Joe Perry. "We're just reinterpreting songs that made the hair on the back of our necks stand up when we heard them."

"I think Aerosmith has always been a blues-based band," Tyler agrees. "When music hit me the most; when I was nine, ten, eleven; it was always that blues from Mississippi that only came on at night ... the devil's music. So we figured, instead of just putting one or two bluesy songs on our record; like 'Big Ten Inch' and 'Reefer Head Woman'; we would do an album that was geared towards what was in our gut ... of all the stuff the label said, 'It sounds like a bunch of blues riffs, it's no good.'"

The band credits Douglas with helping them get back to their old dirty sound. "Jack is a big advocate of not singing in a perfectly clean room," Tyler says. "Instead, he wants us to scream it from the bathroom, or outside from the car."

Perry also gets in on the action, taking over the lead vocals on "Back Back Train." "I think I've managed to figure out where my range is," he says. "Singing with one of the best rock singers in your band is nothing less than daunting. I really love to do it, but it works well on some things and not so well on others."

But Aerosmith is hardly striving for perfection here. "We like to get things that seem to be just right," Tyler says, "and fuck 'em up good."

Steven Tyler and Joe Perry donated their time, talent and fantastic taste in automobiles to the art of the music video. Some may know that the boys, while in-studio rockin' through their upcoming album, were approached by Chuck D of Public Enemy to take part in a song called "Let's Get Loud" for ESPN and the ESPY awards. Tyler and Perry were brought in by Chuck D to add a rock hook, and the goal is to have the track become a stadium anthem along the lines of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll, Part 2." They shot a video using their own vintage cars. It will air July 16th at 9:00pm ET when the ESPY awards air on ESPN - the video kicks off the show so tune in early.

Aerosmith has finished cutting the tracks for its new blues album, which will be mixed over the summer and fall and will most likely be released in January by Columbia, guitarist Joe Perry tells Billboard.com. "All the basics are done, we're probably three-quarters done with the overdubs. And there really aren't many to do, because we cut the album basically live," he says.

Co-produced by the band and Jack Douglas, who helmed such Aerosmith classics as "Toys in the Attic" (1975) and "Rocks" (1976), the as-yet-untitled set will probably feature covers of Muddy Waters' "I'm Ready," Little Walter's "Temperature" and a couple of Mississippi Fred McDowell cuts, including "You Gotta Move."

Born out of sessions held in the basement of Perry's Boston-area home and then recorded nearby at the band's recently built studio, the album will most likely include a couple of songs featuring Perry singing lead. In April, Perry told Billboard.com one such track could be the early Fleetwood Mac cut "Stop Messin' Round."

The album will also include a few new Aerosmith originals. "There's one song that we wrote in Hawaii," he says. "It's got a real R&B feel to it; it kind of has the same feel as 'Crazy.'"

Previously, Perry said the band was shooting for a September release date. Pushing the album back roughly six months ought to prove helpful, he says: "By having the record come out in January, it gives us a little more time, and if something else comes along, it will be real easy to cut it and throw it on there," he says.

The decision certainly seems like a reaction to the warm response with which fans have greeted the band's forthcoming, co-headlining tour with Kiss. Perry says that most likely, the tour - on which Aerosmith will close each show - will last until Christmas, moving from amphitheaters into arenas.

"We always figured we'd be on the road until Christmas," he admits. "And, apparently, in spite of what some of the other tours are doing, we're doing pretty well. There's certainly an offer for us to go indoors, and I think that we'll make that decision pretty soon."

The opening show, to be held Aug. 2 in Hartford, Conn., will mark the first time the bands have shared a stage in nearly 30 years. "Certainly following them is not going to be easy," says the guitarist, who guested on Kiss bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons' 1978 solo album. "They're certainly headliners in their own right. It's just gonna make for more inspiration. I don't think there are too many people that I wouldn't follow, just because of my natural competitive instinct, and how much faith I have in my own band.

"But that's the kind of thing that makes for a great show," Perry continues. "Any time you get to follow a band that, whether they've got great songs, or they put on a great show, ya know, there's something about them that gets the audience crazy. It always inspires us to go on and top it."

Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer has been named as one of the new inductees into the Bronx Walk Of Fame. Aerosmith is known as a Boston band, but Kramer was born and raised in the Bronx, one of the five boroughs that make up New York City, while frontman Steven Tyler comes from Yonkers, just north of the Bronx. Kramer and the rest of this year's honorees; including hip-hop artist DJ Red Alert, sportscaster Michael Kay, former middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta, and others; will be officially inducted into the Bronx Walk Of Fame on June 22.

Kramer released this statement: "I've received my share of honors, but this one hits home because it's about home. Rumor has it that as a drummer I keep good time. The fact is that as a person I keep great company. Besides my brothers in Aerosmith, it's unbelievably cool to join the likes of [Secretary Of State] Colin Powell, [2001: A Space Odyssey director] Stanley Kubrick, [the TV voice of the Yankees] Michael Kay, [talk-show host] Regis Philbin, and [former NBA star] Nate "Tiny" Archibald on the Bronx Walk Of Fame."

Past inductees into the Bronx Walk Of Fame include former Kiss lead guitarist Ace Frehley; actor Burt Young, who played Paulie in the Rocky movies; hip-hop icon KRS-One; salsa star Johnny Pacheco; and Ragtime author E.L. Doctorow.

Aerosmith's video for the Rugrats movie "Lizard Love" premieres approximately 5:45PM ET tonight (Friday June 6) on Nickelodeon's U-Pick Live/Sponge Bob.

Aerosmith will have a new song on the Rugrats Go Wild Movie So