AEROSMITH Drummer's Wife LINDA KRAMER Dead At 55

AEROSMITH drummer Joey Kramer's wife has died.

Linda Gail Kramer, 55, passed away on June 22. No cause of death has been revealed.

Just one day before her death, Linda wished her husband a happy 72nd birthday on Twitter. She wrote: "Happy Birthday to the Love Of My LIFE !! You are the most amazing man with the biggest heart I know I Love U my sweet boy".

According to her obituary, Linda was born in Decatur, Georgia, on February 27, 1967. She moved to Houston, Texas in 1971. Linda was a graduate of Klein Oak High School in Spring, Texas, class of 1985.

Linda worked in the high-tech industry most recently as a contract administrator for Hewitt Packard.

Joey and Linda were married in October 2009, with the musician calling her "the love of his life." "He once described meeting Linda as "the biggest rush you ever had in your life." Friends and family have always noted that Joey and Linda were simply "inseparable."

There are no services planned at this time. Services will be held by the family at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the St. Jude's Children’s Research Center, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, and/or K-9 Angels Rescue, 9415 Winsome Lane, Houston, Texas 77063.

Linda is survived by her husband, her parents, her three sisters, her stepsiblings, her stepson Jesse, and many nieces and nephews, among others.

This past March, Joey announced that he would sit out AEROSMITH's concerts in 2022 so he can "focus his full attention on his family during these uncertain times," according to a statement from the legendary rockers. While Kramer "takes a temporary leave of absence" from AEROSMITH, he will once again be replaced by his drum tech, John Douglas. "[Kramer] and the band look forward to his future performances with AEROSMITH," the statement added.

Two years ago, Kramer rejoined his AEROSMITH bandmates on stage during the group's 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, Douglas 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.

In his January 2020 16-page complaint filed in Massachusetts state court, Kramer said the disability he suffered three years ago was minor, and insisted he was ready to return to the group's "lucrative" Las Vegas residency at the MGM Resorts a few months later, as well as its slate of "50th anniversary activities."

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford later responded to Kramer's suit in a statement to People, saying Joey "has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so. Joey has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week. We would be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse."

In a statement at the time, Kramer said he was "extremely disappointed" with the judge's ruling.

"I knew filing a lawsuit was a bit of an uphill battle," the drummer said. "I can hold my head high knowing that I did the right thing — to fight for my right to celebrate the band's success that I have dedicated the better part of my life to helping build."