Chris Daughtry DECLINED Joe Perry’s offer to front Aerosmith in Steven Tyler’s place
Back in 2011 Steven Tyler beefed with his Aerosmith band members. How to flip them off? Find another job–as an American Idol judge. For awhile, the band was without a lead singer.
In an ironic twist of fate, the band asked American Idol season 5 alum Chris Daughtry to front the band on tour. The offer shocked Chris, who ultimately turned the offer down.
In a recent interview with The Dave Rickards Podcast, Chris tells the story: “I get this random call from Joe Perry,” he said. “Joe Perry and Steven were apparently at odds with each other. It was all in the news, this isn’t private information. I think this was right when Steven Tyler was going on American Idol and they weren’t touring together. I think it was like a public breakup sort of thing.”
“Joe Perry calls me,” he continued. “I’m like, ‘First of all, I didn’t know Joe Perry had my number, this is incredible.’ I thought it was a joke at first, but he didn’t even take time to (say) like, ‘How are you doing?’ He just went into his reason for calling me: ‘And I don’t know what Steven’s doing, but we wanna work. How would you feel about hitting the road with us? You’ve got some cool songs we could play, too.’
“I was speechless”
“And I was, like, ‘Uh … .’ I was speechless,” the singer said. “First of all, I don’t consider myself any caliber of singer that Steven Tyler is as far as I would not be able to tackle those songs the way Steven Tyler tackles them. He is irreplaceable in my mind. Furthermore, Steven Tyler’s alive! This whole fear of pissing off one of my heroes was just looming, and I was, like, ‘There’s no way I can do this, Joe.'”
Although the offer “was a terrifying concept the moment the words left his mouth,” it remains “a story that I will hold near and dear for the rest of my life.”
Afterward, Chris continued to record music and tour with his eponymous band Daughtry. Steven sat on the American Idol panel for two years and eventually he made up with his band members and they continued to tour. The band will embark on their Peace Out farewell tour with Black Crowes next month.
Daughtry is out promoting their latest single “Artificial” released on the band’s new record label, Big Machine Records. They are currently embarking on an acoustic tour titled the Bare Bones Tour.
