Aerosmith was one of countless acts whose touring plans were derailed by the coronavirus pandemic. However, guitarist Brad Whitford has doubts about the band ever touring again.
In an appearance on Joe Bonamassa’s Live From Nerdville, Whitford was asked about Aerosmith’s 2022 European tour and said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), “The European tour, they tried to plan one last year, and they’re talking about next year. It’s a pipe dream right now. Nothing’s gonna happen for a long time. Sometimes I’m not sure what my partners are thinking when they think that’s gonna happen.”
Whitford added, “There’s another interesting thing about going to Europe now because of Brexit — it’s so much harder to get work visas because of that. That’s gonna be a whole other nightmare. I mean, I have my doubts about Aerosmith ever really performing again at this stage, because age is becoming a real factor. And it is what it is.”
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Of course, nothing ever seems to be certain when it comes to Aerosmith; they’ve done this song and dance before. Back in April 2016, Steven Tyler made headlines when he told Rolling Stone, “I’m doing 30 [solo] shows from May until August, and then in 2017 we go out with Aerosmith. We’re probably doing a farewell tour. Look, there’s two bands that still have the original members, us and the Stones. I’m grateful for that. Whether we do a farewell tour or go into the studio and do another record, I’m just excited about it.”
Before that in November 2015, Whitford told Billboard regarding Aerosmith touring while Steven Tyler was working on his 2016 solo country album We’re All Somebody from Somewhere, “Steven doesn’t want to do it…We kind of feel a little abandoned by him and that he, I guess he seems to think his solo career is gonna go great guns and he doesn’t seem to realize that, in my opinion, that his fans around the globe want to see him in the context of Aerosmith and don’t really care for whatever he thinks he’s gonna do. I don’t know if he gets that, but, hey, that’s what he wants to do. I can’t put a gun to his head…It’s just pretty disappointing.”