The Move Steven Tyler Made To Prove Aerosmith That They Can’t Fire Him

Many musicians decide to form a new band or focus on their solo career to prove to their band that they are strong enough to move on without them. These career choices are frequently nothing but a show of strength, and they are often related to changing direction in a music career.

However, Steven Tyler had a unique idea in his mind when tension with his Aerosmith bandmates boiled in 2009. Instead of proving to his solid music career can live without the band, the singer actually started being a judge on the popular singing competition television series, American Idol, and it miraculously worked.

Steven Tyler Was A Judge On American Idol

Fox confirmed that Steven Tyler would replace Simon Cowell as a judge for the tenth season of American Idol on September 22, 2010. The announcement was a complete shocker to Aerosmith members as the frontman signed on to the show without telling his bandmates.

On January 19, 2011, Tyler made his debut appearance as a judge on the show during the premiere of its 10th season, which aired through the end of May. After two seasons that helped boost his popularity, the Aerosmith frontman announced that he would be leaving American Idol on July 12, 2012.

His announcement follows:

“After some long … hard … thoughts … I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress ‘American Idol’ before she boils my rabbit. I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back, but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I’m kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass, the ultimate in auditory takeover …”

Although President of Alternative Entertainment at Fox Mike Darnell, and the show’s co-creator and executive producer Simon Fuller praised the musician after his departure, a number of reports suggest that Tyler was dumped by the American Idol bosses when he started focusing on his band. They weren’t entirely wrong in terms of using the show for Aerosmith; let’s take a look.

Steven Tyler Used The Show To Intimidate Aerosmith

The tension between Aerosmith members and Steven Tyler actually first started after Tyler fell off a stage, injuring his head and neck and breaking his shoulder on August 5, 2009, while on the Guitar Hero Aerosmith Tour. After the incident which caused Tyler to relapse with prescription drugs, the media reported that the singer had no contact with the other members of the band.

On November 10, 2009, guitarist Joe Perry confirmed Tyler had quit Aerosmith to pursue a solo career and was unsure whether the move was indefinite. Despite the rumors of leaving the band as well as Perry’s announcement, the Aerosmith frontman assured the crowd that he is not quitting Aerosmith during a show with the Joe Perry Project that same day.

In the midst of this entire chaos, Steven Tyler checked into rehab for pain management on December 22, 2009. While the band was still suffering from internal disputes, they embarked on the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour which included 40 concerts in 18 countries with Tyler on the front.

Since his spot in the band was quite shaky during that time, Steven Tyler joined American Idol as a way of showing his Aerosmith bandmates he didn’t need them after being threatened to be kicked out of the band. In fact, the musician admitted being a part of the show to show strength to his bandmates in a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone.

Tyler said:

“Did I take this job to show the band? F*ck, yeah. Not to show them, but that I can’t be held hostage anymore. I will be my own hostage. The band can’t throw me out.”

Everything he had done during that entire process actually worked for the rocker as he continued working with Aerosmith from touring all over the world to releasing another studio album, ‘Music from Another Dimension!,’ on November 6, 2012. Naturally, his sobriety for which he worked really hard also helped make things work out for his music career with the band as well.