In case you were wondering:
Because he was hammered, or had problems with his voice? Whatever the reason, it's no surprise. But didn't these guys sign a huge contract with Sony at some point, and have to deliver a substantial number of albums? If so, how hard could that be? Bring in some songwriters. Practice a little. Put it out. Tour. Voila: money for nothing, chicks for free, et cetera. But it's not that easy, of course. Let's go to their wikipedia entry, and see what the lads were up to in 2008:
There's a surprise. I seemed to remember something about Aerosmith getting a huge contract at a point when their fame seemed to have passed, so off to Wikipedia. Here we learn what the lads were up to in 2008:
If you read the entire biography, you're struck by the number of ways the members of the band were put out of commission. This isn't a case of the drummers dying a la Spinal Tap, but almost as bad. Every paragraph has something like this: "It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station." It takes work to get your car to burn at a gas station. Generally you have to help. Here's the 2009 tour:
Well, that can happen to anyone. Then Tyler went into rehab for painkillers, the band started to make noises about replacing him, but he returned for another tour, and the band was back in the saddle again!
The article notes that the band, in its early teenage high-school years, used to sit around, smoke pot, and watch "The Three Stooges." That may have been their most lasting influence.
