Brad Whitford says that he has “doubts” about AEROSMITH ever being able to perform live again.
The 69-year-old guitarist, who has been a member of AEROSMITH since 1971, painted a bleak picture of the band’s future during an appearance on Joe Bonamassa‘s hit interview series “Live From Nerdville”.
After Bonamassa asked Whitford about AEROSMITH‘s European tour, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic caused it to be moved back to 2021 and eventually to 2022, Brad said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The European tour, they tried to plan one last year, and they’re talking about next year. It’s a pipe dream right now. Nothing’s gonna happen for a long time. Sometimes I’m not sure what my partners are thinking when they think that’s gonna happen.”
He continued: “There’s another interesting thing about going to Europe now because of Brexit — it’s so much harder to get work visas because of that. That’s gonna be a whole other nightmare. I mean, I have my doubts about AEROSMITH ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. And it is what it is.”
Back in 2016, AEROSMITH drummer Joey Kramer admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone that the health issues faced by members of the group — including his heart scare in 2014 and guitarist Joe Perry‘s stage collapse — make it harder for them to perform the way they used to.
“It surprised the shit out of me when it happened,” Kramer said of his own health setback. “I exercise every day, I’m conscientious about my health. I thought it was heartburn or indigestion. We’re not 25-year-olds anymore – we can’t play as many shows as we used to. Steven [Tyler] can’t sing two nights in a row or three to four nights a week — it’s physically impossible. So it becomes a question of going out [on tour] less than we used to, or not doing it at all.”
In February 2020, Kramer rejoined his AEROSMITH bandmates on stage during the group’s “Deuces Are Wild” residency in Las Vegas. A month earlier, he sued the rest of AEROSMITH in a bid to perform with them at two Grammy-related events. But a Massachusetts judge eventually ruled against him and the group played without Kramer.
After Kramer injured his shoulder in 2019, his drum tech filled in for a few gigs during AEROSMITH‘s residency. Kramer did, however, perform with the rest of AEROSMITH in July of that year at the Twin Cities Summer Jam in Shakopee.
AEROSMITH‘s European tour is now scheduled to kick off on May 29, 2022 in Moscow, Russia and end on July 13, 2022 in Krakow, Poland.
In April 2020, AEROSMITH‘s Vegas residency performances scheduled for May and June of last year at the Park Theater were also postponed in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
AEROSMITH launched its Las Vegas residency in April 2019 and had completed several legs of the “Deuces Are Wild” concert production at Park Theater before the latest postponement.
Tyler is the oldest member of AEROSMITH, having turned 73 this past March.
