Aerosmith Delays A Month’s Worth of Shows After Steven Tyler Damages Vocal Cords

Aerosmith has to (just) push pause on their farewell tour, with a month’s worth of shows delayed as a result of damage to frontman Steven Tyler’s vocal cords. The band, which announced their final world tour back in May, were founded in 1970, and their last few tours have been dogged by health and injury issues. Tyler shared a statement to social media, saying that he is under doctor’s orders not to sing for a month, and apologizing to the fans. The shows were immediately rescheduled for January and February 2024.

The band has been touring all summer with the Black Crowes in support of their “Peace Out!” tour, which they announced would be their last. In 2017 and 2018, they previously had an “Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour,” which felt like it might be a farewell tour, but was almost immediately followed up with a “Deuces are Wild” tour which ran from 2019 until 2022, with a COVID-related hiatus built in.

“I’m heartbroken to say I have received strict doctor’s orders not to sing for the next thirty days,” Tyler posted to Threads. “I sustained vocal cord damage during Saturday’s show that led to subsequent bleeding. We’ll need to postpone a few dates so that we can come back and give you the performance you deserve.”

The shows impacted include Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Raleigh, and Cleveland. It isn’t a great time to be a classic rock fan in the nation’s capital, apparently: the Aerosmith cancellations come less than a week after Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cancelled the rest of their September 2023 shows, including their DC show, promising to reschedule them once they return to the road next month. Springsteen, who had cancelled a number of prior concerts this tour with vague explanations of “illness,” is reportedly suffering from peptic ulcer disease.

Aerosmith’s Peace Out! tour isn’t in support of a specific album, but is rather designed to be a celebration of the band and a last go-’round with the audience. Springsteen, touring in support of the 2020 record Letter To You, has said in the past that he will likely never stop touring, although many fans think the current tour might be his last set of arena shows with the E Street Band. Springsteen has sprinkled smaller, often acoustic shows into his repertoire over the years.