Aerosmith Retires from Touring – It’s Bitter Sweet Emotion for Fans
It is a sad time for the Blue Army, the devoted fan base of Aerosmith. On Friday, August 2, 2024 the band announced their retirement from touring. The “Demon of Screamin” lead singer Steven Tyler at 76, has been battling a vocal injury for nearly a year. A decision was made by Tyler’s medical team that a full recovery from his injury just isn’t possible. Aero had rescheduled its “Peace Out” final tour and fans were hoping to get one more shot to see the Bad Boys from Boston. The band made the difficult decision to retire and cancel the tour. I was looking forward to their Tampa date next February as were other fans around the country on the 40-date tour.
You see dear reader; I am one of the soldiers of the Blue Army in Florida. I owned their debut album in 1975, fell in love with the amazing ballad “Dream On”and rocked to “Sweet Emotion” and saw my first show on my 17th birthday at Bayfront Center in St. Pete in 1976. We had general admission tickets and worked our way up to the stage to see Steven and company up close and personal. Steven was wild and like no front man I had seen! Saw them again in 1990 for the “Pump” tour at the USF Sun Dome. The “Rockin’ the Joint” tour in 2006 at the St. Pete Times Forum brought a surprise when Sarasota’s own Twinkle Yochim opened because Lenny Kravitz became ill. There was the “Global Warming” tour 2012 at Tampa Bay Times Forum (now Amalie Arena). I started traveling from time to time to see Aero shows and sneaking in a camera when possible like at the Atlantic City Boardwalk. By 2014, I was photographing for The Suncoast Post and able to get photo passes for some shows.
I have been lucky to see and photograph Aerosmith play some great shows in the last twelve years! Bigger productions, but still the same great music. They played the MGM Grand Arena in Vegas, the first KAABOO festival in San Diego, Jazzfest in New Orleans and the residency at Park MGM in Vegas. Steven, Joe, Tom, Brad and Joey were still “America’s Greatest rock & roll band” as when I saw them in 76! Their 50th Anniversary show in Boston’s Fenway Park and the first show of the “Peace Out” tour in Philly in 2023 were amazing but missing Joey Kramer. Props to John Douglas who stepped in for Joey on the drums. We all know the stories of break-ups, addictions, the “Toxic Twins” crazy times but Aero survived all that to make it through to become the best-selling hard rock American band with more than 150 million records sold. Rock & Roll Hall of Famers since 2001, they have four Grammy awards and Steven Tyler is one of the best rock & roll front men of all time!
The Blue Army has been through all the ups & down, all for the Aero music! Not just the hits but the B-sides and the deep cuts. For all the tours and the Vegas residency and we were ready for however long it took for Steven to heal for the “Peace Out” final tour. I have so much respect for the band to retire considering the circumstances. Steven would not want to give a performance that is any less than 1000% and his voice cannot deliver that at this point. I would not want to watch him struggle and have people talk trash. Aerosmith has given us 54 years of great music and performances and that is all as a fan I can ask for. There are DVD’s, YouTube videos, album’s, CD’s, streaming services, that can all continue to bring us the music of Aerosmith! We will miss them on the road but they are all still alive & well and Steven can continue to rest and heal. Guitarist Joe Perry is a Sarasota resident and I have never met him, but maybe one day I will see him somewhere and I can tell him how much Aerosmith’s music means to me. In the meantime, think I will put on “Dream On” and “sing for the laughter and sing for the tear”. Thank you so much Aerosmith for the music and memories!
Vicky Sullivan Photos