AEROSMITH Guitarist Is 'Ready To Rock' Despite Motorcycle Mishap

No wind, no rain, no motorcycle mishaps can stop AEROSMITH which kicks off its spectacular 18-city Live Nation-produced "Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock Tour" tomorrow, Friday, July 23 at Oakland's Oracle Arena.

AEROSMITH, America's No. 1 rock and roll band, has just finished a run of phenomenally successful dates in Europe and South America but all agree that playing for their American fans is the ultimate. Clearly the AEROSMITH army couldn't agree more. The band is scheduled to play its hometown along with THE J. GEILS BAND at a sold-out Fenway Park show on August 14.

"After last summer, we've been looking forward to getting back out there with a vengeance. I can't wait to feel the roar of the American audiences again and give this summer what it needs — a double dose of AEROSMITH!" commented Steven Tyler.

AEROSMITH's Joe Perry had a motorcycle mishap last week but stated, "Just like the name of the tour, I am 'Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock.' It was a close call. My bike is smashed but I am OK from head to toe. I want to thank all of the fans for their emails and support."

"After all the trials and tribulations we've come out into one of the most fun tours in recent memory. We had an amazing time in South America and Europe and now we're ready to bring it home," said Tom Hamilton.

SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABOS will open eleven of the sixteen announced shows.

Tyler told the Associated Press in a new interview that it was "really unfortunate" that the band's problems late last year — which almost broke them apart — became public knowledge. The singer seemed to take a poke at his bandmate, Joe Perry, who was the most vocal in the press about possibly getting a new vocalist for the band. Tyler said, "Certain people that decide to go in the press with dirty laundry, I just have to look the other way and realize I need to keep my side of the street clean, and they do what they do. It's really unfortunate that certain people were Twittering and going to the press."

Despite that tinge of residual bitterness, Tyler said that "the band has never been better," following a year that included his stage injury last August, a canceled tour, his stint in rehab and threats to find a new lead singer or get lawyers involved. But ever since hashing out their issues earlier this year, Tyler said, "It's been beautiful and I realized when I was taking care of my problems that the band is all I really care about."

Tyler admitted that a series of surgeries and the loss of his mother last year contributed to his falling off the wagon, but also said, "I managed to pull it all back together again and say, 'Look, let's just get out there and be the band that we know we are and not argue about this crap anymore.'"

Tyler also said that he's got "12 songs I'm sitting on right now for a solo record" — another source of tension between him and the band — but added that AEROSMITH "has to finish a studio album; we're gonna do that first."

Fan-filmed video footage of AEROSMITH's July 3, 2010 performance at the Heineken Jammin' Festival in Venice, Italy can be viewed below.