Aerosmith

Boston

Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton moved to Boston in September 1969 with a group called the Jam Band, and drummer Joey Kramer joined them. Steven Tyler, who had drummed in a group called Chain Reaction, was fronting it. The two bands merged in October 1970, with Tyler joining only as frontman. Their first gig was at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts, on 6 November 1970. Kramer proposed the name, inspired by Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet. Ray Tabano played rhythm guitar until 1971, when Brad Whitford replaced him.

Managers David Krebs and Steve Leber took them on in 1972, and Columbia signed them that year. Their debut, Aerosmith, came out in January 1973 after sessions at Intermedia in Boston with producer Adrian Barber. It held Dream On, which reached the American top 60 in 1973 and became a much bigger hit when Columbia reissued it in 1976. Get Your Wings followed in 1974, the first record made with producer Jack Douglas.

The classic run

Toys in the Attic arrived in April 1975 and was the breakthrough. Most of it was written during the sessions at the Record Plant in New York. It produced Sweet Emotion, their first Top 40 single, and Walk This Way, and it eventually went nine times platinum in the United States.

Rocks followed in May 1976. The band rehearsed and recorded six backing tracks at the Wherehouse in Waltham with a mobile studio, then finished at the Record Plant. It reached number three in the United States, and Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Nirvana have all cited it. Draw the Line followed in December 1977, written and recorded at a former monastery in Westchester County, New York, where the Record Plant had installed a studio. The live album Live! Bootleg in 1978 was made to sound like a bootleg, with the tape hiss left in.

Split and return

Perry left in July 1979 after a show at Cleveland Stadium, and Jimmy Crespo replaced him. Night in the Ruts appeared that November, with Gary Lyons brought in to replace Jack Douglas as producer. Whitford left in 1981 and Rick Dufay played on Rock in a Hard Place in 1982. Tyler collapsed on stage in Portland, Maine, in 1980 and was later injured in a motorcycle accident. In 1984 Perry and Whitford rejoined, the original five were together again, and the Back in the Saddle Tour marked the reunion. The band signed to Geffen and released Done with Mirrors in 1985.

In 1986 Tyler and Perry re-recorded their parts for a version of Walk This Way with Run-DMC, produced by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. It reached number four on the Hot 100, the first hip-hop single in the American top five. Tyler completed rehab that year. Permanent Vacation (1987), made with Bruce Fairbairn in Vancouver and New York, is regarded as the true comeback.

Pump and after

Pump (1989) was again produced by Fairbairn at Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver. It reached number five in the United States, number one in Australia, and sold seven times platinum at home. Love in an Elevator and Janie's Got a Gun were among its singles, and the second won the band its first Grammy. A new Columbia contract followed in 1991. Get a Grip (1993), written with a string of outside songwriters, was their first number one album and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Nine Lives (1997) also reached number one, after a troubled start in which the band changed producer and manager.

In 1998 I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, written by Diane Warren for the film Armageddon, gave them their first and only number one on the Hot 100. Rock 'n' Roller Coaster opened at Walt Disney World in 1999, and the band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, with Kid Rock presenting.

Later years brought Just Push Play (2001), which debuted at number two, Honkin' on Bobo (2004) and Music from Another Dimension! (2012). Tyler had throat surgery in 2006 and fell from the stage at Sturgis, South Dakota, in 2009. A Las Vegas residency, Deuces Are Wild, ran from 2019 to 2022, and the Peace Out farewell tour began in 2023 but was cut short by a vocal injury to Tyler. The band cancelled the tour on 2 August 2024, retired from touring, and released the EP One More Time with Yungblud in 2025, their first new music in 13 years.