LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the final time to celebrate the rock band’s 50th anniversary.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band on Monday announced the dates for their farewell tour called “Peace Out,” which begins September 2 in Philadelphia. The 40-show series, which stops on New Year’s Eve in the band’s hometown of Boston, concludes January 26 in Montreal.
“I think it’s about time,” said guitarist Joe Perry.
Perry said the group, which includes frontman Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford, learned from directing and producing their recent Las Vegas shows.
Perry believes now is the time to say goodbye, especially when all of the band’s founding members are in their 70s. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group.
“It’s kind of an opportunity to celebrate 50 years that we’ve been out here,” Perry said. “You never know how much longer everyone will be sane to do that. … It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a proper tour. We did this run in Vegas which was awesome. It was fun but (we’re) kinda excited to get back on the road.”
Tyler and Perry said the band is looking forward to digging into their long catalog of the group’s rock classics, including “Crazy”, “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “Livin’ on the Edge”.
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Founded in 1970, Aerosmith has accumulated four Grammys over the years. The band broke boundaries between rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC on “Walk This Way.”
Aerosmith appeared in the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001 and even had its own theme park attraction at Disney World in Florida in 1999 and later in Paris with the launch of the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith”.
“We’re opening Pandora’s box one last time to bring our fans the Peace Out Tour,” Tyler said in a statement to The Associated Press. His reference “Pandora’s Box” is reminiscent of Aerosmith’s 1991 three-disc compilation album, which spanned the band’s output from the 1970s through the early 1980s.
“Join us or watch out when we get all the toys out of the attic. Get ready,” Tyler added.
The band announced that Kramer has decided not to take part in the current dates of the upcoming tour. He’s still a part of the group, but the drummer has been on leave to “focus on his family and health” since they resided in Las Vegas last year. Drummer John Douglas will continue to play in his place.
Perry called Kramer her brother. The band said his “legendary presence behind the drums is sorely missed”.
Before the 40-day tour ends, Perry said other cities, both domestic and international, could be added.
“It’s the last farewell tour, but I have a feeling it’s going to last for a while,” he said. “But I don’t know how many times we will return to the same cities. It could very likely be the last time.”
