Last summer, Aerosmith officially announced their retirement, bringing to a close their epic 50-year live career after it was confirmed vocalist Steven Tyler would be unable to recover from a long-standing vocal injury.
At the time, Tyler and co said it had been a “heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision” to make, but now electric guitar icon Joe Perry has seemingly left the door ajar for a potential reunion at some point in the future.
Speaking to Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM (via Ultimate Classic Rock), Perry discussed the possibility of a final Aerosmith concert, which could indeed become a reality if some logistical and organizational hurdles could be overcome.
“I’m always hoping, but going on the road, it’s a big deal pulling that together,” Perry admits. “It’s one thing to sit there and look online and see who’s touring and stuff, and there’s dates that show up, but there’s so much planning, and what it takes out of you physically, it’s a lot more than people realise.”
Logistics aside, there is also an intense physical toll that touring has on an aging rock institution, another consideration that could jeopardize a grand finale send-off.
“It’s a really physical thing, going out on stage,” he continues. “And all that energy that you’re putting out, that you’re transferring to the audience, it takes something out of you in a physical and emotional way. And all of that energy that you give, that’s flowing out there, that’s making people feel good, it takes it out of you.
“So I don’t know, man. But we’re talking about it. I mean, except for anything on the calendar, we’re all alive and well. So, we’ll just have to see.
“I know there’s gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig, and I’m not looking forward to putting the setlist together for that one. But I don’t know, man. We’ll just have to see.”
Perry isn’t the only Aerosmith member to have these thoughts, either. The guitarist says he “thinks” Tyler would be up for it as well, while bassist Tom Hamilton previously told Guitar World that he refused to believe the band was actually over.
“I refuse to consider it over,” he said last year during an in-depth interview. “There are a lot of things we could do in the future. We'll just have to see once we get out of reaction mode and back to creative mode… I find it hard to believe that we'll never play again.”
In related Perry news, last year the guitar hero sat down with Guitar World to take a look back on his Aerosmith career – and his 600-strong guitar collection.
