Aerosmith Biography

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With hundreds of new music acts emerging yearly, one constant name in the charts, on the stations and in the press has been Aerosmith. Combining the rock stylings of earlier bands Rolling Stones and Led Zepplin with a radio friendly pop overtone has meant hit record after hit record for the American band.

Aerosmith’s roots fall back to 1970 when the band’s prolific frontman Steven Tyler met Joe Perry and decided to give a band a chance. Both had been involved in earlier projects and quickly set out to recruit additional members. The band found guitarist Brad Whitford, drummer Joey Kramer and bassist Tom Hamilton, completing the line-up and giving official launch to the band.

Aerosmith located themselves in Boston, a city which remains dedicated to the band even today. The band soon became popular throughout the city and surrounding area giving rise to the band’s first record deal with Columbia/CBS Records. Their self-titled release was a release largely on the strength of the classic “Dream On.”

A lengthy tour during 1974 paid off when the band released Get Your Wings which somehow stayed on the charts for a lengthy 85 week stint. Despite the success of the album, it was Toys in the Attic released in 1975, that confirmed the band’s stardom and gave rise to a new stadium-filling force.

Toys in the Attic backed by the singles “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk this Way” eventually sold over 6 million albums worldwide. Aerosmith’s first two albums also profited from Toys popularity, both peaking on the success of the release.

Aerosmith swept through the latter half of the 70s unstoppable, that is until tension and hard times emerged. Tyler and Perry were feuding and the latter left the band to work on a solo project, followed by Brad Whitford who quit to form a new band. The band’s demise seemed certain when Tyler himself was involved in a life-threatening motorcycle accident.

It wasn’t until 1984 that the original band reformed and set off on tour. Besides setting their personal differences aside, the band took on a new sober face – a far cry from the drug and alcohol induced haze of their earlier years.

In 1986 Aerosmith re-emerged in the top ten although indirectly. Rap group Run DMC released a cover of the band’s earlier hit “Walk this Way”, which reached the Top 10 and sparked renewed interest in Aerosmith.

The band followed with two of their biggest albums Permanent Vacation (1987) and Pump (1989). The albums solidified Aerosmith as bonifide superstars and paved the way for another decade of radio-friendly, chart topping hits.

 

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