Aerosmith’s Joe Perry Wasn’t Happy When Steven Tyler Took ‘American Idol’: ‘It’s One Step Above Ninja Turtles’
Joe Perry and Steven Tyler have had a turbulent relationship for decades. They don’t hold anything back. If they have something to say about each other, they say it. Perry and Tyler can agree that Aerosmith’s music is important. However, whenever one of them threatens its survival, they’re back in the saddle again, battling it out.
So, you can imagine Perry’s thoughts when he heard Tyler would be an American Idol judge.
Joe Perry heard Steven Tyler joined ‘American Idol’ online
An article online informed Perry that Tyler joined the judge’s table on American Idol. In 2010, Perry told the Boston Herald (per Entertainment Weekly) what happened when he confronted his bandmate about the news.
Tyler told Perry that he couldn’t talk about the new job role. Perry explained, “I mean, after working with me for 40 years, he couldn’t tell me about this? Why so secretive? We’re told it’s a done deal. If Steven is committed to a TV show, that kind of affects the rest of us. We’d like to plan our lives, ya know?”
According to Rolling Stone, this tension came at a bad time in the band’s history. “The Idol situation adds yet another rocky chapter to Aerosmith’s history. The band was on the verge of breakup last fall after Tyler revealed plans to work on his solo career before releasing another Aerosmith album,” Rolling Stone wrote in 2010.
“At one point, Aerosmith threatened to hit the road with another lead singer. Tyler eventually opted to go to rehab and the band reunited to embark on their ‘Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock’ tour together. But the relationship between the singer and his bandmates is still tense; Tyler still has his own manager and publicist.”
Perry didn’t want Aerosmith’s name involved while Tyler judged on ‘American Idol’
Aerosmith’s lead guitarist was not happy after hearing the band would be without its lead singer for a length of time. In his anger, Perry said he didn’t want Aerosmith’s name associated with a show that was “one step above Ninja Turtles.”
“He’s signed a contract that’s taking him out of the music business for up to seven months of the year; that kind of throws a wrench into things,” Perry told the Calgary Herald (per TV Guide).
If Tyler put Aerosmith second, Perry wanted to move on without him. “[You’ve got] four guys that are great together, and if you find the right singer, there’s no reason you can’t go and entertain people,” he added.
“It’s a reality show designed to get people to watch that station and sell advertising. It’s one step above [Teenage Mutant] Ninja Turtles.
“I’ll tell you one thing, when we put this band together, this is not something that [Steven Tyler] would do. It’s his business, but I don’t want Aerosmith’s name involved with it. We have nothing to do with it.”
However, that didn’t last very long.
Aerosmith performed on ‘American Idol’ in 2012
Despite his initial comments, Aerosmith performed during American Idol‘s season finale in 2012. Maybe Perry’s attitude toward the situation changed because Tyler planned to exit the show.
However, Perry told Rolling Stone that the drama had nothing to do with the show. “It wasn’t about the show – it was about how we found out about it,” he said. “I was pissed off about that whole thing, but I’ve played on it before and the band is gonna play on it in the last episode of the season to debut the new single.
“So it’s not about the show, it’s about how we found out about it. It was a bit of a shock and it took us off balance.”
By August 2012, Perry and Tyler weren’t over the drama. During a rare joint interview on Good Morning America, Tyler said Aerosmith was a bit jealous.
“It was the biggest show on TV and every night millions of people got to see that big… singer guy from Aerosmith sing, up there being what he is,” Tyler said (per Ultimate Classic Rock). “It didn’t hurt Aerosmith. They were a little jealous in the beginning that I took it, and I didn’t tell ’em I did.”
Tyler interjected, “Speak for yourself, cause I wasn’t jealous. I wasn’t jealous you were on the show. I was glad you were on the show.” He reiterated that what made him mad was how he found out about Tyler’s judging duties.
Despite their bickering, Perry and Tyler were able to continue with Aerosmith. Ultimately, the pair are family, and sometimes family hates each other.
