STEVEN TYLER Says JOE PERRY 'Looks As Sculpted As One Of His Horses'

James McNair of Belfast Telegraph reports:

"When I look at Joe Perry on stage," says Steven Tyler of his band's lead guitarist, "I see someone who looks as sculpted as one of his horses. I try to be the same because I'm an egomaniac. I see artists that have got frumpy or fat and they look a mere shadow of the Adonis they once were. Everybody's got a hero they've watched go to seed, right?"

Were AEROSMITH's 59-year-old singer not so well preserved himself, his words might be harder to swallow. What might read to some like mild body fascism is, for Tyler, a simple expression of the rules of rock star engagement. To stay on top you have to walk it like you talk it, he says. Today, in his Knightsbridge hotel suite, Tyler is talking it, in leopard print shoes and a black leather jacket open to reveal his skinny bare torso. When asked about AEROSMITH hits such as "Love in an Elevator", he has a pleasing tendency to sing parts of his response. Inquire whether his background as a drummer helps explains why his vocals are so rhythmic, and he scats the chorus of "Rag Doll" while keeping time on an imaginary hi-hat.

AEROSMITH are in town to headline Hyde Park Calling, their first full-length UK show in eight years, and on July 1 Joe Perry will play the Concert For Diana. Three years Tyler's junior, Perry acknowledges that the pair are the worst possible advert for the dangers of drug abuse. "People look at us and think, 'OK, they got away with it — why shouldn't I?'" he says, square jaw tilting upwards. "The truth is it's all in the genes. My Italian grandfather on my mother's side had a full head of hair in his old age, and my paternal grandfather was this wiry Portuguese sailor."

Read the entire article at Belfast Telegraph.