JOE PERRY: Auditions To Begin For New AEROSMITH Singer

According to The Pulse of Radio, AEROSMITH plans to begin auditioning new singers next month, with guitarist Joe Perry telling Canada's QMI Agency that the band is "already getting the word out there." He added that they will "start having some auditions, making some phone calls. Hopefully, we'll have found a new singer by the summer, and AEROSMITH will be able to go back out on the road." The group aims to replace original frontman Steven Tyler, who announced last fall that he was taking two years off to pursue a solo project before later checking himself into rehab for an addiction to painkillers.

Although Tyler stated that he planned to be "writing, recording and performing with AEROSMITH" once his stint in rehab was completed, Perry said that the rest of the group is not sure what Tyler's status is: "It's kind of hard to get a straight answer about what's going on. He has to have leg surgery and foot surgery and it's basically going to take him out of the picture for about a year, year and a half. So, in the meantime, the rest of the band wants to play."

Perry pointed out that the band hired fill-ins for bassist Tom Hamilton and guitarist Brad Whitford last year when both were ill, saying, "That's basically how I look at it; we need another singer to fill in."

Perry has said in other interviews that AEROSMITH might lean toward hiring an established "name" vocalist to tour with the group, and there were a few people they already had in mind.

But he also told QMI that the door is open for Tyler to return: "I'm ready to write with him, to play on stage with him anytime he's physically ready and wants to do it. But it's really up to him . . . the last things he said to the press were that he wanted to work with the band and sing with the band, so we'll see."

Meanwhile, Palm Springs, California newspaper the Desert Sun reported that Tyler made a surprise appearance at a local bar called the Tilted Kilt on Tuesday night (January 19),not far from the Betty Ford Center where he is in rehab. Tyler, accompanied by a publicist and management rep, reportedly sang the AEROSMITH hit "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" during a karaoke competition. One witness claimed that he only drank Shirley Temples and left after singing.