It’s a constant battle to stay relevant when you’re an aging rock star. Nobody knows this better than the Demon of Screamin’ himself, Steven Tyler, who’s been leading the cavalry charge for decades now. The Aerosmith frontman and former American Idol judge just released a solo country single called “Red, White & You”, and — can you believe it? — that’s not even the most embarrassing thing he’s done this week.
On Monday, Tyler appeared on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show and claimed that he was a key player in getting Guns N’ Roses back together for their upcoming reunion tour. “I did meet Axl [Rose] in a couple of clubs, a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, and I’d bump into him and I’d have that talk,” Tyler confided to Stern. “I said, ‘You need to get the fuck back together again soon, because we all miss you.’” It’s the same thing that Jon Bon Jovi did for him while he was in rehab, Tyler explained. “People in the world need you,” he said Bon Jovi told him, and he claims he relayed the same message to Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose.
Just one rock star doing another rock star a solid, right? Well, that’s not exactly how Rose sees it. Tonight, he and Guns N’ Roses took to Twitter to lay a social-media smackdown on Tyler, passive-aggressively refuting his claim and thanking him for his “non-existent role” in their reunion:
https://twitter.com/gunsnroses/status/692524095532089345/photo/1
That is some good Twitter game. Welcome to the Jungle, Steven.
The Guns N’ Roses reunion lineup — which also features guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan — will headline the 2016 Coachella Music Festival in April. The band is widely expected to embark on a stadium tour this summer, with two dates at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas already confirmed.
