C O L U M N S

Lead singer of Aerosmith Steven Tyler has quit the band. While talking to the Las Vegas Sun the band’s guitarist Joe Perry revealed that they found out about Tyler’s decision via an interview posted online in Classic Rock magazine in which the 61-year old rocker had said that he was finally embarking on a solo career.

'Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don't know any more than you do about it,' Perry said in the interview.

'Obviously he hasn't been giving 100 per cent to this thing for a long time. He's obviously had this planned for a long time. To disregard his brothers to the point where we have to find out about it on the internet - it's like, 'See you later, Bud.' I still care for him as a person, or at least the person I used to know. But things change.'

Relations between Tyler and other band members had been strained for sometime now.

'Frankly, the last few months I've beenwanting not to rock the boat. I don't want him cancelling any more gigs. We really wanted to do these last four. We just kind of didn't want to call him out or anything and get him any more ------ off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie,' Perry said, adding that the band was thinking of bringing in another singer.

But will Aerosmith be the same without Steven Tyler?

'Aerosmith is such a powerful band, I mean, it's like a steam locomotive. You just can't disregard 40 years of four guys who play together as well as they do. We're just trying to - at least I am - trying to figure out what direction the band should take.

'As far as replacing Steve, it's not just about that, it's also four guys that play extremely well together, and I'm not going to see that go to waste. I really don't know what path it's going to take at this point, but we'll probably find somebody else that will sing in those spots where we need a singer and then we'll be able to move the Aerosmith up a notch.'

Tyler on the other has decided that he’s finally going to focus on himself.

'I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself - Brand Tyler.'

Aerosmith which will celebrate its 40 birthday next year has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, with hits such as 'Dude looks like a lady'. Steven Tyler is the father of Hollywood actress Liv Tyler.

By Shahrezad Samiuddin