Steven Tyler — a timeless rock icon who didn’t lose his spirit to perform in front of hundreds of fans. As it appears, he also has another fan: Justin Hawkins of the Darkness. In a recent interview, Hawkins described Tyler as his rock god and recalled when the rock legend offered him his help.
Justin Hawkins is an avid fan of Steven Tyler and his unique vocal talent. In a previous episode of his Justin Hawkins Rides Again, the musician argued that Tyler, who is now 74, has been an amazing musician at any age. According to Hawkins, the Aerosmith frontman is aging like fine wine, although his addictions affected his voice and performances in the 70s and 80s. Recently, Hawkins expressed his admiration for Tyler again and recalled when he first met the frontman.
“Hello, this is Justin Hawkins from the Darkness,” the musician introduced himself. “The artist I’d like to choose as my rock god is Steven Tyler from the Aerosmith band. The first album I ever bought was Run-DMC’s ‘Raising Hell’ because it had Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on it. It made me want to be a guitar player or a singer, ideally both.”
“We met Steven Tyler once when he came to see us play in Atlanta,” Hawkins recalled. He then noted, “I think he was not drinking at the time, so he was extra sociable. He really could see that I was drinking a lot, I think, and he wanted to be my friend and help me. He said, ‘You can call me anytime.’ He gave me his phone number, and he had a clamshell phone which he kept in a holster on the belt. He said, ‘If you ever need to talk to me, just call me. The phone’s always right here,’ and he’s just pointing at his belt.”
The singer continued, “Maybe about six months later, I was asked to narrate a documentary about Aerosmith, and it had a lot of personal stuff in there about Steven Tyler, his family, and some things that I wasn’t sure he’d be comfortable with. So I phoned him up, and it was right there. He answered it immediately, and he wasn’t happy with it. So, I didn’t do the gig. He’s a lovely bloke.”
Hawkins met Steven Tyler with ‘Walk This Way,’ featured in the first album he bought, Run-DMC’s ‘Raising Hell.’ The song inspired him to be a guitarist and singer, which he later achieved. As it turns out, Steven Tyler wanted to be Hawkins’ friend to help him after learning that Hawkins was consuming high amounts of alcohol, as he struggled a lot with addictions for a long period of his life.
