Aerosmith walked off the stage at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on September 9th last year and who knew it would end their touring life. During this concert, frontman Steven Tyler fractured his larynx forcing the rest of the tour to be called off.
Aerosmith ends farewell tour
The band had only just launched their Peace Out farewell tour, a farewell tour that started a week earlier on September 2nd in Philadelphia. The performance received huge praise with fans noting how strong the group sounded. A second show, September 6th in Pittsburgh, offered more of the same, further building the excitement surrounding Aerosmith’s tour.
The New York show on September 9th had started much like the others – a video history of the band played on the big screens as Steven Tyler and company emerged from underneath the stage and launched into their opening number, “Back in the Saddle.”
The second song of the night was a cover. Aerosmith delivered their version of the Rufus Thomas song “Walking the Dog.” This marked the first time they performed the song on the tour (they originally covered the track on their 1977 LP Draw the Line).
They carried with their hits. The soaring power of “Livin’ on the Edge” led to the slow build of “Janie’s Got a Gun.” Power ballads such as “Cryin’” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” were sprinkled through the night. This offered a change of pace from more raucous tunes like “Love in an Elevator” and “Sweet Emotion.”
After briefly exiting the stage following their sixteenth song of the night, “Toys in the Attic,” Aerosmith returned for an encore. The band performed renditions of two of their biggest hits, “Dream On” and “Walk This Way,” the latter of which featured a piece of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” mixed in for good measure.
As fate would have it, the final song of the night wasn’t even an Aerosmith track. The group performed “Happy Birthday to You” and brought out a giant chocolate cake to celebrate guitarist Joe Perry, whose 73rd birthday was the following day.
However, Aerosmith has announced that the band is officially retiring from touring. They announced in an extensive statement on social media Friday that they are canceling the rest of what would’ve been their farewell tour as Steven Tyler struggles to recover from a vocal injury he suffered last year.
“As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury,” the band said Friday. “We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision — as a band of brothers — to retire from the touring stage.”
Aerosmith first started the Peace Out farewell tour in May of 2023 but played just three shows before pushing dates back after Tyler injured his Larynx. The band announced the new show dates back in April. They had originally planned to continue the tour in September.
“We are grateful beyond words for everyone who was pumped to get on the road with us one last time,” Aerosmith said on Friday.
“Grateful to our expert crew, our incredible team and the thousands of talented people who’ve made our historic runs possible. A final thank you to you — the best fans on planet Earth. Play our music loud, now and always. Dream On. You’ve made our dreams come true.”
The cancellation unfortunately puts an end to the touring career of one of the most popular rock bands in history. Aerosmith has sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
“It was 1970 when a spark of inspiration became Aerosmith. Thanks to you, our Blue Army, that spark caught flame and has been burning for over five decades,” the band said. “Some of you have been with us since the beginning and all of you are the reason we made rock ‘n’ roll history.”
Aside from the vocal injury, Tyler is also facing a lawsuit in which he has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor in the Seventies. The plaintiff Julia Misley has alleged that Tyler convinced her mother to grant him guardianship over her so he could take Misley with him across state lines and have a sexual relationship with her. However, Tyler has denied the claims. A second woman subsequently sued him about a year later, though that suit was dismissed earlier this year.
