Steven Tyler’s representatives are stepping up their efforts to prevent the other members of Aerosmith from recruiting a new singer, according to a report by Billboard.
Tyler’s attorney Skip Miller sent to the band’s manager Howard Kaufman a letter last week, officially requesting the group "immediately cease and desist from engaging in acts and conduct to the harm and detriment of your own client, Aerosmith, and our client who is one of its members."
In the past few weeks, reports have leaked suggesting Aerosmith has approached the likes of Billy Idol, Chris Cornell, Paul Rodgers, Lenny Kravitz and even Sammy Hagar about potentially filling in as the group’s frontman on upcoming European and Latin American tour dates.
Tyler has called a February 9 meeting to discuss the band's future, including the possibility of making a new studio album. "Steven Tyler does not want lawsuits," Miller said. "We do not want to go in that direction.”
According to Tyler’s publicist, the singer is undergoing therapy for a painkiller addiction. He has recently made some bizarre public appearances in the vicinity of the Betty Ford Center, singing karaoke in Palm Springs, California and serenading shoppers over the PA at a Home Depot store in nearby Rancho Mirage.
Aerosmith was forced to scrap its summer tour with ZZ Top after Tyler fell from the stage on August 5 in Sturgis, S.D. The group’s last album of original material was 2001's Just Push Play.
Miller said, "Can you imagine the manager of the Rolling Stones calling for the replacement of Mick Jagger? It's just absurd ... Tyler is very unique, distinctive. Steven is Aerosmith, along with the others. He's the guy the public knows. He's the singer. I'm blown away that the current manager would even suggest something like (replacing him)."