This past August, Aerosmith made the unhappy announcement that the band would be retiring from touring because of singer Steven Tyler’s ongoing vocal issues. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers have had a storied 50-year history as one of America’s greatest rock bands, and for most of that time the group has featured the same five-member lineup.
That being said, for several years between the late 1970s and mid-’80s, founding guitarist Joe Perry quit Aerosmith during a period of upheaval in the band. In a new, in-depth interview with Guitar World, Perry discussed his reasons for leaving in 1979.
[RELATED: Tom Hamilton Addresses Aerosmith’s Future, Dispels Any Speculation of a New Singer]
The 74-year-old rocker explained that his departure from the band was due to multiple factors, including business disagreements, interpersonal conflicts, and substance-abuse issues.
Perry noted that when he left Aerosmith during the recording of the group’s 1979 album Night in the Ruts, he “wasn’t really mad” at his bandmates, although he admits that they “just weren’t getting along.”
“We just had too much, too soon,” he maintained. “We had just kept going since the early Seventies, and the glue that kept us together started to get unstuck. We kind of lost the vision and didn’t know what was next.”
He added, “Back then, making it to 27 was like being on borrowed time, so it was tough to live elbow to elbow. It seemed like we’d done everything we hoped to do, and we had no idea what would come next.”
About the Band’s Business Issues
Perry told Guitar World that beyond personal conflicts, issues with the band’s business played a major role with his exit from Aerosmith.
“I wanted to do an audit of the business and see where our money was,” he explained. “We didn’t pay any attention to that stuff; we would get checks and put them in the bank.”
He continued, “We knew we were doing well, and we made sure the taxes were paid and all that s—, but we didn’t have a handle on it. I remember telling the guys, ‘We should do an audit.’ … [I]t just seemed like they didn’t want to. They said, ‘Everything’s fine.’”
Perry noted that although he quit Aerosmith after a big backstage fight, his reason for leaving also had a lot to do with his frustration over business matters and how the group was being managed.
“I … wasn’t happy with what was going on behind the scenes; it felt like we were being told where to go and when to go,” he noted. “Nobody seemed to be looking out for us as far as caring or burning out, and I was trying to get some kind of handle on that.”
Perry also explained to Guitar World that before he quit, he hired his own lawyer to look into how the band’s finances were being handled.
“There was stuff going on and I wanted to check it out, but I couldn’t get the rest of the guys to go along with it,” the guitarist recalled. “I finally told my lawyer, ‘Call them up; tell them I’m not coming back,’ and I didn’t.”
About Perry’s Hiatus from Aerosmith
Perry said that after he left the group, “I felt like a huge weight was off my shoulders.” He added, “I thought, ‘I’m just gonna put a band together, do a record, go out, tour and have fun.’”
The band was The Joe Perry Project, which released three albums between 1980 and 1983. Fellow Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, who quit the band in 1981, wound up joining the Perry Project in time to tour with the group behind its third album, Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker.
Both Perry and Whitford rejoined Aerosmith in 1984.
Reflecting on his exit from Aerosmith, Perry told Guitar World that he never thought his split from the band would be permanent.
“In my heart, I never thought, ‘I’ll never play with them again,’” he said. “It was just like, at the moment, we just needed a break.”
He added, “[Personally, even through all the bulls—, we still loved each other, and we still do—you know what I mean?”
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