Steven Tyler: The Biography

by Laura Jackson

  He had not lost the buzz of turning on the radio and hearing Aerosmith songs belt out over the airwaves. Come the late 1990s, however, radio was changing and older artists were being dropped in their droves from playlists around the country. When Tyler discovered that this was happening to Aerosmith’s music at radio stations across Los Angeles he got on the phone personally to find out why. One radio producer told him that that particular station would not be playing Aerosmith because they were classed as a rock act. Steven promptly challenged the guy by reeling off a long list of the band’s romantic ballads. Whether or not this mission made a blind bit of difference to those in charge of the station’s playlists, Tyler felt better for having at least tried to tackle the issue.

  In a less militant mood, Steven took stock of his life and although content enough, he did not believe in resting on his laurels. In summer 1998, he had ambitions of breaking into the realms of acting. With differing degrees of success other rock stars, including Roger Daltrey, David Bowie and Jon Bon Jovi had made it on to the silver screen. Unsurprisingly, Steven envisaged himself cast in a flamboyant passionate role in a high-octane action adventure movie. Since he was planning getting back on the road with Aerosmith and writing more songs for future albums, it was hard to see quite how he would have the time to attempt to break into acting, but he admitted: ‘Life’s gotta be complicated for me.’

  CHAPTER 13

  The Keeper Of The Flame

  FEELING RECOVERED from his knee operation and buoyed up by the success of ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’, in summer 1998 Tyler was ready to resume Aerosmith’s Nine Lives world tour. Plans were announced for a major US leg kicking off in August at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh, North Carolina. During its expected run through to the end of the year, the band hoped to knit in the dates that had to be postponed when Steven picked up his injury. But fate intervened again in July, when drummer Joey Kramer sustained second-degree burns on both legs, his left arm and hand. He had been sitting in his sports car at a petrol filling station in Scituate, Massachusetts, with the engine still running, when a leak in the petrol tank hose caused fuel to set the car ablaze. Joey was very lucky to scramble alive out of the burning vehicle, and was rushed to hospital for treatment for his horrific injuries. Aerosmith postponed their tour plans, and over the next six weeks Kramer made remarkable progress. He later praised: ‘Without the care and time taken by the entire staff of the burn unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital, I don’t think my rehabilitation would have been so speedy.’

  The seventh leg of Aerosmith’s world tour finally got under way on 9 September at the Montage Mountain Amphitheater in Scranton, Pennsylvania. As the band then headed to New Jersey they learned that they had added two more trophies to their collection; at the MTV Video Music Awards they picked off the prizes for Best Rock Video for ‘Pink’, and Best Video from a Film for ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’. By now, the Armageddon soundtrack had gone triple platinum. Hurling himself into performances from Clarkston to Cincinnati, Chicago to Columbus, on 24 September in St Louis, Missouri, for their gig the next night at the Riverport Amphitheater, Tyler took time out to throw the first pitch at the St Louis Cardinals baseball game against the Montreal Expos at the city’s Busch Stadium.

  Hitting state after state, Steven went all out to prove his fitness and enthusiasm. In early October, when Aerosmith took to the stage at the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater, his breathtakingly explosive passion enthralled a 25,000 capacity crowd during the ninety-minute show. His energy levels were extraordinary and he wielded his microphone stand with almost careless abandon as he gyrated around the stage. Rock journalists left that evening to scribble that Tyler was now possibly rock’s greatest frontman. He does draw an intriguing blend of emotions from his devoted fans, for in addition to responding to the pulsating sexuality he flagrantly exudes, he also elicits an enduringly deep affection.

  Come autumn 1998, Steven’s public statement mirrored his private feelings, as he confessed that after twenty-five years in the business he and his bandmates had at last lost their sense of insecurity. Steven saw new dimensions to his world and he relished the fact that Aerosmith was in tremendous shape; each night the band played out of its skin in the quest of rewarding the loyal supporters who had stayed true to them through thick and thin. Steven also openly valued the fact that his friendship with Joe Perry had deepened yet further. This relationship still formed the axis on which the band’s fortunes turned. It was stimulating, too, that Aerosmith was more than holding its own in such fast-moving times; they were learning how to take advantage of the worldwide web, which was beginning to make a serious impact on the way rock music reaches its audience. On 17 October, their gig at the P.N.C. Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, simultaneously went out as a webcast; over 120,000 people downloaded the performance, making it the largest single artist webcast, at that point in time.

  Days later, Aerosmith released a twenty-three-track double live album called A Little South of Sanity. Comprising tracks recorded during the band’s 1993-1994 world tour and during some gigs on their Nine Lives tour, it peaked at number twelve on Billboard and reached the Top 40 in the UK album chart. Steven did not over-enthuse about this compilation. He appeared to view it as an album he would likely find most interesting when he listened to it in his old age. He continued to be fascinated with the breakneck pace of technology, firmly contemplating a time when gigs could be recorded live and CDs made available virtually as fans are streaming out of the auditoriums. This North American leg ended in late October in Toledo, Ohio, but behind the cheeky grins and quick quips to the media, Steven was quietly concerned. Twenty-four gigs in, his operated-on knee was threatening to give him some problems. He preferred not to think about the prospect of needing more surgery, and after donating $10,000 to the Massachusetts General Hospital, where Joey Kramer had been treated for burns earlier in the year, he launched Aerosmith back on the road.

  With the tour now renamed the Little South of Sanity tour, the next batch of dates commenced in early November at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; in the ensuing weeks they performed in fourteen states. Veterans of the road, Aerosmith have notched up their share of hairy experiences and touring mishaps. Joe Perry highlighted one particular hiccup as his favourite rock ’n’ roll moment. ‘We were at some puddle-jump airport and our jet ran off the runway. It was probably two in the morning after a gig and we all had to get out of the plane and shoulder it back on to the runway to take off. We were all covered with mud.’

  At the MTV Europe Music Awards held at the Fila Forum in Milan, Aerosmith won the Best Rock Act award, which the band accepted via video link to Italy and, for the second year running, they took in the new year with a gig at the Fleet Center in Boston. Sticking around home territory for a gig on 2 January 1999 at Worcester’s Centrum Arena, just two more dates in Pennsylvania and Tennessee wrapped up their wanderings in time to collect the accolade of Favourite Pop/Rock Band Duo or Group at the American Music Awards.

  Away from the spotlight, Steven’s concern had deepened. This recent round of dates had proved punishing on the knee that had been weakened last spring, and the prospect of further surgery now made him outwardly nervous. He revealed how distressing it had been to undergo knee surgery, for he had had no guarantees that post-op he would be able to do everything he had taken for granted before - from lifting and carrying his children to careering around the stage. He felt that having successfully come through surgery once, it shortened the odds of him equally well surviving a second date on the operating table. While he hoped that a rest from touring would, in itself, be enough to relieve the worrying pressure on his leg, he tried to relax at home with his family. Spending time with friends, he accompanied Joe to Los Angeles’ Whisky A Go-Go club to cheer on the guitarist’s eighteen-year-old son (by his first wife, Elyssa); Adrian Perry was performing there with a band called Dexter.

  Not everyone was in the mood to play happy families, h
owever. Tyler’s troubles with Cyrinda Foxe’s wish to publish nude photos of him in the paperback edition of her memoir, Dream On: Livin’ on the Edge with Steven Tyler and Aerosmith, came up again when Steven won the latest round in their court battle. Steven’s stance remained that his ex-wife did not have the right to publish these snaps for commercial gain, without his consent. In March 1999, a New York State Supreme Court granted a temporary restraining order preventing Cyrinda from publishing these revealing images until their ownership could be legally established. This was not the end of the matter. Following this temporary restraining order, the case was remanded to a lower court for further adjudication.

  That same month, changes occurred in the management, publicity and legal departments handling Aerosmith; the band ultimately signed with a Los Angeles-based management firm and hired a new legal team. It had become almost a given that Aerosmith would mop up at the annual Boston Music Awards, and in April they lifted four trophies: for Act of the Year; Best Rock Band; Best Video for ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’; and Best Male Vocalist. As this embarrassment of riches further cemented Aerosmith’s ties to Boston, Tyler wanted to give something back to the city that had taken him so firmly to its heart; he donated money to help build an Oprah Winfrey ‘Angel House’ for a needy family in Boston. Steven also donated the rights to the song ‘Fallen Angels’ to the chat show star’s organisation, Angel Network.

  After the three-month lay-off, Aerosmith had by now resumed their tour in Columbus, Ohio. It was a bitterly cold spring, with the foul weather ensuring that winter illnesses continued to cut down people across the whole country. Already feeling poorly, when the band took to the stage on 1 May at the Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Steven came down with the flu, and despite his condition worsening over the coming six days he stubbornly fronted Aerosmith when the band played at the famous Hollywood Bowl. Situated on North Highland Avenue in the Hollywood Hills, with its distinctive concrete band-shell stage, the Hollywood Bowl has a romanticism all of its own among performers. Joe Perry confessed: ‘We knew that we were putting Steven’s voice at risk but there was no way we were going to blow out the Hollywood Bowl!’ That night, resplendent in eye-catching silk, Steven pouted, pirouetted and thrust his way through the set, gamely disguising his weak condition from the fans, but ending the night with laryngitis that was severe enough to force some cancellations to allow him to get his voice back and to recover from the flu. When the tour resumed, as Aerosmith prepared to play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 17 May, they were saddened to hear that record producer Bruce Fairbairn, with whom they had worked on their multi-platinum albums, Permanent Vacation, Pump and Get a Grip, had that day been found dead in his Vancouver home. Just under a week later, Aerosmith wrapped up their North American stint at Tinley Park in Illinois.

  A year on from Armageddon’s release, Aerosmith was still garnering awards for ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’, and in June the power ballad won Best Song from a Movie at the 1999 MTV Movie Awards. The number has also become one of the most requested songs ever played on British radio. One bum note that summer concerned Woodstock ’99. Intended to mark thirty years since the original music festival, this event was slated to take place in Rome, New York, between 23 and 25 July. Back in April, Aerosmith had been confirmed as one of the few acts that had played at Woodstock ’94, and would again be taking part this time around. However, due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts and other obligations, it was not now going to be possible, and Aerosmith had to back out. The band issued a statement setting out its decision not to take part in Woodstock ’99, in which they said that they ‘regretted the inconvenience and sent a heartfelt apology to fans who had purchased tickets to see them perform as part of the weekend festival’.

  Meantime, back in vocal form, Steven set out to strut his stuff for the final leg of a world tour that had kicked off over two years earlier. Opening on 10 June at the Globen in Stockholm, Sweden, it was a trek around Europe playing at outdoor arenas. Having racked up appearances in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Aerosmith hit Britain for a single gig at London’s Wembley Stadium before heading to Belgium. On 11 July, they took part in the Monza Rock Festival, appearing the following evening at the Neapolis Festival in Naples before quitting Italy for one gig in Spain, then winding everything up on 17 July with a performance at the Super Rock event held at the National Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. Over the course of this mammoth undertaking, Aerosmith’s opening acts and guest performers had included Spacehog, the Black Crowes, Lenny Kravitz, Bryan Adams and Stereophonics.

  Back home with his family for the remainder of that summer, Steven was well rested by the time he was invited to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in mid-September prior to the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts football game held at the Foxboro Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. More changes came into effect in the business and accounting areas of the band’s working world while publicly their star continued to rise. On 8 December, at the Billboard Music Awards, Aerosmith was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

  For many artists, the new millennium was a chance to stage a spectacular showcase gig. Aerosmith chose to greet the dawn of a new century by playing a mini-tour of Japan, dubbed the Roar of the Dragon. Commencing on 29 December at the Dome in Osaka, they played six shows. The stage setting for each gig had a striking theme incorporating dragons and other representations of East Asian culture. Their second gig at the Osaka Dome was on New Year’s Eve, spilling over into 1 January 2000. The band’s American fans had hankered to see them perform on home soil at this unique moment in time. However, they were able to enjoy a small segment of this show when ABC television’s New Year’s Eve Millennium Celebration special programme streamed Aerosmith’s performance of ‘I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing’ live from Osaka. On 2 January, they performed at the Nagoya Dome. A single stop in Fukuoka followed, then there were two consecutive nights at the Tokyo Dome, bringing the tour to a close on 7 January. It had been a huge success, and their Japanese hosts and fans had made the band feel most welcome.

  For many, this historic dawn ushered in a burgeoning optimism; people felt inspired to hit new heights - in Tyler’s case, literally. During his off-duty periods he had become addicted to extreme sports such as hang-gliding. Wearing a parachute and hang gliding several thousand feet above the ground gave Steven the kind of heady rush that illegal substances once used to. He also enjoyed waterskiing and careering around on a mountain bike. Watching his family of four grow up and spread their wings thrilled him, too. Nine-year-old Taj and eleven-year-old Chelsea were happy, healthy youngsters, each developing their own distinctive personality, while Steven’s two older daughters continued to carve their individual career paths.

  Throughout 1999, Liv had appeared in three movies, Plunkett & Macleane, Cookie’s Fortune and Onegin. She would soon be seen in Dr T and the Women but her biggest screen role was just around the corner. Liv felt frustrated whenever film magazine and newspaper features labelled her as Liv Tyler, ‘daughter of Aerosmith rock legend Steven Tyler’. It was no reflection on her pride in, or her love for, her father, but she had begun to feel suffocated by the tag to the extent of thinking she should have kept the surname of Rundgren. Liv landed roles on her own merit as an actress but undoubtedly the Tyler name attracted attention - the lifeblood of any performer.

  Twenty-one-year-old Mia was working on a career as a plus-size fashion model (plus size in America being a ladies size 10-12). At 5’ 7” tall, with long dark hair, she had developed into a strikingly beautiful young woman, who was often refreshingly candid in interviews. Said Mia: ‘I was always chubby as a kid. We’re a family of big eaters and if you look at my older sister Liv, you’ll see that she’s not super-skinny either. She is totally happy that she has a womanly shape.’ Pointing out that that is a rarity in a country and an industry that favours waiflike figures, Mia was frank that while she had grown up comfortable that she was not sy
lphlike, it could have been made easier. ‘I know that it would have been better if I had seen role models who had figures like mine. Beauty comes in all different packages,’ she maintained. ‘My dad has a fast metabolism when he is touring and running around on stage but my family never pressurised me to be skinny. We’re very tolerant and supportive of each other.’ Mia would go on to become a catwalk queen, taking part in a provocative plus-size lingerie fashion show in New York, among other things. At a time when the danger of anorexia was fast gaining publicity, both Mia and Liv helped promote a healthier body image for women.

  Regarding Aerosmith, Steven was having to fend off any notions that with the band entering its fourth decade in music, it was really time to shuffle quietly away into muted retirement and leave the stage for the young, mainly media-manufactured pop stars coming along. The Rolling Stones, who had started their career a clear decade before Aerosmith, were still touring the world, and Tyler boldly pronounced that so long as he was able to draw breath, he would continue to perform live. To prove that there was life in the fifty-two-year-old yet, Steven now let it out that work had begun on Aerosmith’s thirteenth studio album.

  As had been the case for the past thirty years, Steven and Joe Perry sparked creatively off one another, but Perry also revealed: ‘Lately, we’ve found it more exciting to work with other people. Steven and I have sat there in an empty room with a blank tape, me with a guitar in hand and he at the keyboards, a lot of times. I’m not saying we won’t sit down and write songs again alone, but for now it’s fun to bring in other people.’ The outsiders included former collaborators Mark Hudson, Marti Frederiksen and Steve Dudas. Over time, songs emerged including ‘Just Push Play’, ‘Beyond Beautiful’, ‘Under My Skin’, ‘Light Inside’, ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Jaded’. Written by Tyler and Marti Frederiksen, ‘Jaded’ particularly excited the frontman. He declared: ‘It felt phenomenal when I hit on that melody. I didn’t tell the band for two months. I loved the way the song wrapped around itself and within a couple of weeks it went from “Jaded” to “J.J.J.Jaded” with the rhythm and everything. It helped a lot that I was a drummer first.’