Chris Daughtry Was Once Asked To Sing For Aerosmith and Declined

Although it may be difficult to imagine Aerosmith playing without Steven Tyler, the Boston rock band did consider finding a new lead singer during a notoriously difficult period in the late 2000s. The band considered various famous singers, including Lenny Kravitz, Paul Rodgers, Chris Cornell, Sammy Hagar, and even Chris Daughtry.

Chris Daughtry, the lead singer of the band Daughtry and a former contestant on American Idol, talked about the unexpected offer he got from Aerosmith’s guitarist Joe Perry in a recent interview on The Dave Rickards Podcast. He explained that Perry contacted him when Tyler and Perry were having conflicts, which were public knowledge at the time. He stated:

“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.”

He shared that Perry reached out to him out of the blue, which surprised him because he didn’t expect Perry to have his phone number. Perry didn’t waste any time and immediately mentioned his reason for calling: that they wanted to keep working and asked how Daughtry felt about joining them on tour. Perry also noted that Daughtry had some good songs that they could include in their shows. Daughtry said:

“And I was, like, ‘Uh … .’ I was speechless.
“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.'”

The offer was declined by Daughtry, who described it as a terrifying concept from the minute Perry brought it up. On the other hand, he said, “a story that I will hold near and dear for the rest of my life.”

In the end, both parties continued on their own successful paths. Daughtry’s debut album in 2006 was a massive hit in the United States, and their subsequent albums also performed well. Aerosmith managed to reconcile with Steven Tyler, releasing more music and touring extensively over the next decade. They are scheduled to begin their farewell tour, Peace Out, with the Black Crowes next month.