How Joe Perry Saved Steven Tyler’s Life

The relationship between Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Steven Tyler is one of the most compelling tales in the crazy world of rock ‘n’ roll. These two, known as the Toxic Twins, led the ultimate party lifestyle, but Tyler almost lost everything as a result. This is the tale of how Perry’s audacious move saved Tyler from certain death.

The Toxic Twins’ Wild Days

Back in the day, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were all about the rock star life—think late-night parties, drugs, and pure chaos. Tyler himself said, “Oh, hell yeah. Of course! You have a shot of Jack Daniel’s, play Madison Square Garden, get offstage, and go clubbing with Jimmy Page—come on! After two encores in Madison Square Garden, you don’t go and play shuffleboard. Or Yahtzee, you know? You go and rock the f*ck out. You’ve done something you never thought you could, and you actually think you are a super-being.” Sounds epic, right? But that high life started to spiral out of control.

Tyler admits:

“It works for a while. But then things go wrong. You become addicted. It’s something you do all the time, and suddenly it starts influencing your greatness. We believed that the road to wisdom was through excess. But it got really bad in the ‘80s.”

Hitting Rock Bottom

By the late ‘70s, Tyler’s drug use was no joke. While Perry was deep in it too, Tyler’s addiction was on another level, worrying everyone around him. Things got so bad that his bandmates, especially Perry, knew something had to change. Tyler was teetering on the edge, and Aerosmith was at risk of losing their frontman for good.

Joe’s Life-Saving Ultimatum

In a now-legendary moment, Perry and the band laid it all on the line. They gave Tyler a straight-up ultimatum:

“It was an intervention with the band: If I don’t go away to rehab, then the shit’s over. And it was interesting that I was being told by a bunch of guys still getting f*cked up. But I’m grateful that that happened because I would have never seen the light. I thought they were trying to brainwash me. I thought I would lose my creativity.”

Talk about tough love! Tyler later shared with GQ in 2019 that Perry’s push was a wake-up call. That moment was a turning point, leading Tyler to get clean and keep Aerosmith rocking.

Tyler shares more about his journey to sobriety:

“The confusion goes away. Your friends come back. You can keep a little money in the bank. You can plan things and make them work. You get physically healthy.”

“Once you start getting high and stay high, you’re in a different reality. And if you live in that reality long enough, that altered reality becomes your reality. And then when you’re sober, you find out that was a false reality.”

Sobriety’s Ongoing Battle

Despite his sobriety, Tyler’s path wasn’t easy. Following foot surgery, he experienced a relapse in 2022 and required pain management. However, he demonstrated his dedication to recovery by taking the initiative and willingly enrolling in treatment. Recovery is a battle, as Tyler’s tale demonstrates, but it is one worth waging with Perry’s kind of support.