According to longtime Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, it’s unlikely the band will hit the road again anytime in the near future.
Speaking to on a recent episode of Joe Bonamassa‘s podcast, Live from Nerdville, Whitford noted that Aerosmith had originally plotted a 2020 European tour that was pushed back first to 2021, and now to 2022. You can watch the full interview down below.
“The European tour, they tried to plan one last year, and they’re talking about next year,” he said. “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.”
Some of the hesitation lies in the inevitable: the band members are getting older. “I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage,” Whitford continued, “because age is becoming a real factor. And it is what it is.”
His bandmates agree there will come a point where the touring road ends. “We’re not 25-year-olds anymore – we can’t play as many shows as we used to,” drummer Joey Kramer told Rolling Stone in 2016, two years after he collapsed onstage due to a heart issue that eventually required him to undergo surgery. “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.”
Nothing has been set in stone, however. “A farewell tour is something we’ve talked about doing for years, let’s say roughly in the last five years,” guitarist Joe Perry said to Rolling Stone, also in 2016. “It’s just something the band’s talked about at various times. At this point, the five of us have never sat down and said, ‘It’s time to do it.’ So ‘considering’ is an appropriate word for that statement. A farewell tour is definitely not confirmed.”