Aerosmith’s Joe Perry Mulls a Future Without Steven Tyler

It's hard to imagine Aerosmith without frontman Steven Tyler, the spindly, large-lipped persona who, over the course of a nearly 40-year-career, has become the very face of the Boston band. But very soon, Aerosmith fans may have to do just that, as with every passing day, it's seeming more and more likely that Tyler's done with Aerosmith ... and Aerosmith's done with him.

On Nov. 9, guitarist Joe Perry talked to Boston's WZLX 100.7 rock station and spoke candidly about the Aerosmith situation. Obvious internal turmoil sparked rumors earlier this summer that the band's tour with ZZ Top would be its last. Soon after the band nixed the remainder of the tour back in August, after Tyler fell off stage mid-gig, the tension was aired publicly. And earlier this month, after Aerosmith played in the Middle East, Tyler told Classic Rock magazine that he wasn't sure "what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself -- Brand Tyler."

When asked Monday whether Tyler was out of the group or not, Perry said he wasn't sure. The last time he spoke to Tyler, the singer hung up on him.

"There hasn't been any communication with his managers. He hasn't talked to anybody in the band. So [the Classic Rock report] is the only thing I've seen or heard." After he read the article, Perry figured, "I guess that's what he's doing. Maybe we'll get a telegram from him; I don't know."

During the summer tour, after which the band was planning a brief hiatus, Tyler kept to himself. "He was pretty much traveling on his own, with his own group of people. So there really wasn't much talk about what was going on," says Perry. "And after he fell off the stage the second time [in Sturgis], I don't think he was physically up to finishing the tour -- even if he hadn't broken his shoulder. I knew we were gonna be off for a while, so that was it. And I guess he's announced what he's gonna do online."

The band were scheduled to record this fall, according to reports. But according to Perry, not a single note has been recorded for the disc. "The only thing we have is a bunch of stuff that's been left over from past records," he says. "Some of those [songs] we were gonna put on the [next] album, but he didn't do any singing at all for this record. I can't really understand that. We had some pretty good stuff laid out, and working with [producer] Brendan O'Brien, I thought it was gonna be a slam dunk, but for some reason, he just wasn't interested."

Perry says its possible they'll search for someone to take over for Tyler on the mic, but that Aerosmith is not over yet. "As long as we're still kicking, it's not over. We'll probably get bored and come back. I don't know what everybody's gonna be doing. We've talked about getting someone else to sing in the band," he says. "The thing is, it can't be Aerosmith with... at least not the Aerosmith that we know. For it to be valid and have something real about it, it would have to be somebody that would bring something to the party. It would be the four guys that have been playing forever, and using that weapon with somebody that's got [something] to bring in. But I don't know yet. We've really just kind of got knocked back on our heels, and everybody is just kind of settling back and figuring out what's going on."

In addition, Perry has said on Twitter that Aerosmith is "not splitting up" but "looking for a new singer to work with" following the recent speculation surrounding Tyler's role in the band.