JOE PERRY: STEVEN TYLER 'Has Become More Driven And Hungry For Acceptance And Fame'

In a brand new interview with Guitar International, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry was asked if he has found a way to better work with the band's lead singer, Steven Tyler, over the years.

"Steve has become more driven and hungry for acceptance and fame than he was in the '70s or even the early '80s," Joe said. "He was more of a team player back then. Even when I first met him, I knew he was going to be a handful. There was something about him that was off. [Laughs] But, hey, everybody is quirky. He is also an incredibly talented musician and drummer with an incredible voice. I figured whatever comes along with that package I can deal with."

It was back in 2010 when AEROSMITH seriously considered replacing Tyler, whose relapse into drug use and onstage injury led the band to cancel a U.S. tour and push back work on a new album. Although a number of candidates for the job were rumored at the time, AEROSMITH guitarist Brad Whitford confirmed on VH1's "That Metal Show" that ex-VAN HALEN vocalist Sammy Hagar was in serious consideration for the gig.

Whitford explained, "We had to talk about it — maybe we could put a different name on it and bring somebody else in? We spoke to Sammy and he was really excited about it. I love Sammy. It was like, 'Oh, man, this would be so cool!' But it all started to come back together on its own."

Tyler and the rest of AEROSMITH did in fact settle their differences, and the band's latest album, "Music From Another Dimension!", came out in November 2012.

Whitford later shed some light on the band's dark period in 2010 when it looked like Tyler would be replaced. Whitford told Rock Cellar magazine, "We just felt like we couldn't just let the band fall apart. It never went any further than kind of talking about it. We spoke to maybe one or two singers about the idea but that was about as far as it went. I don't think anybody in the band was terribly keen about getting in a new lead singer. I think we were all just thinking about survival at that point. We weren't ready to give up on the band."

Whitford later explained that staying together was ultimately the smartest decision for AEROSMITH. "It was just pretty obvious we needed to stick together," he said. "We felt we had plenty left in us and there was no sense in doing anything else. We've had different experiences with people off doing some of their own music here and there and that was fun but it doesn't come close to the AEROSMITH experience."