Joe Perry Claims Aerosmith Won’t Wait for Steven Tyler

No one knows what to think. First, we hear Steven Tyler's quit Aerosmith. Then, guitarist Joe Perry tells the public that the band is "positively looking for a new singer to work with." Then, Tyler appears with Perry's band in New York, and says he's not quitting Aerosmith, after first saying he wanted to focus his immediate efforts on "Brand Steven Tyler." Whatever's happening with Aerosmith, one thing's for sure: The situation seems to get more and more confusing by the day.

On Nov. 11, Perry spoke to both Billboard and Rolling Stone less than 24 hours after Tyler performed 'Walk This Way' in New York with Perry's band. And no, thing's aren't trouble-free in paradise.

Perry says Tyler's guest appearance at his concert "really didn't change anything in my mind" about the status of Aerosmith. He says Tyler "never said he was leaving the band" but says the singer "wanted two years off to do his other projects." The rest of Aerosmith weren't down with that.

"Aerosmith wants to work," Perry says. "The band's been playing together for 40 years. It's a really powerful rock band, and I don't want to see it just go to waste, and I don't think any of the other guys do, either. We're gonna work and we're gonna do something -- I'm not exactly sure what yet, but the band's too good to let it sit around. We're not going to wait for Steven."

He added that Tyler's appearance during this week's gig in New York came as a surprise even to him. "There was all this commotion during our encore break and somebody said, 'Steven is here.' And I was like, 'What?'" Tyler said he wanted to join the group on stage for the final encore of 'Walk This Way.' "Being an acquaintance of 40 years, I said, 'Why not?' So he came up and sang, and that was the last I saw of him."

In spite of Tyler's proclamation that he wasn't leaving the band, Perry says Aerosmith is still considering touring and recording with a new singer. "He wants to take two years off from the band, but the rest of the band wants to keep on working," Perry says. "We have so many different options to fill up that time. Anything is possible at this point. Basically, any communication that we've had over the last couple of months has been through managers, so that's been pretty strange. I never won any money trying to second-guess what goes on in Steven's mind. I guess this is just Aerosmith business as usual."