It is amazing how a band whose leaders (Tyler and Perry) were once dubbed the toxic twins both survived and thrived over 30 years after they first burst onto the scene.

Formed in 1970 near Boston, the band was nurtured on a diet of R&B, blues and hard rock. It all began when Steven Tyler happened about a performance by Jam band, featuring Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton, in 1969. The three got together and recruited Joey Kramer who was a childhood friend of Tyler's. Kramer picked the band's name. The band also featured a guitarist called Ray Tabano at this time. While the band has several originals in tow, most of their set was comprised of Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones covers. Tabano's departure meant the recruitment of Justin Thyme's Brad Whitford. The band acted as openers for Humble Pie.

A few New York performances later translated into a management contract and, soon thereafter, a lucrative contract with Columbia Records. The debut, Aerosmith, did not translate into any radio hits however. Regardless, early pressings of the album are extremely dear - not the least of which because they featured unique liner notes dealing with the many vices of the band. The band's first hit album was 1975's Toys In The Attic featuring Sweet Emotion and Walk This Way among others. Dream On is also re-released and is finally a smash hit for the band. 1978's Live Bootleg was culled from performances dating as far back as 1973.

Then disaster struck. Perry left the act refusing to complete the, appropriately named, A Night In The Ruts. Jimmy Crespo was soon drafted to take his place. Brad Whitford would depart one year later and was replaced by Rick Duffay. The band had earlier invited former UFO and Scorpions guitarist Michael Schenker to audition.

Aerosmith was the quintessential hard rock band of the 70's and as their success grew, so did the amount of drugs and alcohol used. However it was in that period that many of the band's classics are penned including the ballad Dream On (which Perry disliked for many years) and Walk This Way. Many of the early albums were considered instant classics and the band marched on until the late 70's. Off the map and considered dinosaurs in the early 80's, Geffen brought the band back in 1985 (included is a huge advance to tour) and the band was off again to rock in a hard place. A clever marketing ploy is adopted when the band appeared on record and video with rappers Run D.M.C. In 1991 the band rejoined Columbia/Sony for a cool $30 million advance. The band released several samplers and made an appearance on the animated hit show The Simpsons. The band would also appear in video games called Revolution X and 9. Later on in that decade Aerosmith further penetrated different markets by contributing extensively to the soundtrack for the movie Armageddon.

Later Aerosmith is a more poppy and polished band, but the band's fans are legion.

The band set out across the USA with Kiss in a massive co-headlining trek in 2003. The tour was interrupted once by the big North American blackout. The band began recording a blues covers CD in 2003. The blues album, Honkin' On Bobo, was released in April of 2004. The act performed at Super Bowl XXXVIII. The event almost did not go ahead following a series of differences on time and space between band and event organizers. Aerosmith later announced a 40-city North American tour in support of the new album, Honkin' On Bobo with Cheap Trick as support. Singer Steven Tyler's was forced to cancel several shows in the spring of 2006 because of a throat problem described as an "overuse injury.” The band released a new compilation, entitled Devil's Got A New Disguise, on October 10th, 2006 through Columbia. The disc featured two new songs. Steven Tyler joined trumpet player Chris Botti for a special performance with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops as part of a PBS (USA public television) Chris Botti Live In Boston show between September 18 and 29 of 2008. The group performed the entire Toys In The Attic album on its 2009 tour with ZZ Top. The album was issued in 1975 and featured songs like Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion. Iron Maiden, Forbidden, Rush, The Cult and Judas Priest had recently played old albums in their entirety. Brad Whitford was sitting out the tour, at least partially, in order to recuperate from a recent surgery. Bobby Schneck of Weezer and Slash would play with Aerosmith. In related news, guitarist Joe Perry was issuing a new solo album in the summer. The band’s show at Riverbend Music Center in Cincinnati, Ohio in July was cancelled due to an injury within the band. Bad luck continued when Steven Tyler broke his shoulder and received stitches on his head in August after an on-stage accident in South Dakota. The band subsequently postponed its tour with ZZ TOP. Some sniping occurred between Perry and Tyler next as regards to the temporary vacation. Simultaneously, Billie Perry, the wife of guitarist Joe Perry, announced that she doesn’t like or listen to the band’s music. In a Twitter post, she claimed to have never listened to an entire album of Aerosmith. Aerosmith apparently came undone with singer Steven Tyler supposedly quitting for a solo career and the rest of the band claiming a lack of information. Tyler then appeared on stage with Perry at the latter’s show and denied the rumours. Guitarist Joe Perry was hinting at forging ahead with a new singer however. The rest of Aerosmith had also been hinting at Tyler possibly abusing drugs once again. The band’s last concert was in Abu Dhabi. The Joe Perry Project was touring all season. After much drama, erratic behaviour and rumours of departure from the band, singer Steven Tyler has entered rehabilitation in late 2009 for “addiction to prescription painkillers.” Joe Perry (originally billed as Aerosmith), Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and the Black Eyed Peas were among the bands on the first annual Show Of Peace concert, which was televised internationally on April 17th from the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing, China. The free Show Of Peace would mark Earth Day. The United Nations' Pathways To Peace recognized Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page when presenting its first-ever award. Perry also broke the news that singer Tyler had been in the UK in 2009 auditioning for Led Zeppelin. In late February, it was reported that Steven Tyler was back with the band after a short hiatus in rehabilitation.