Aerosmith have announced that they are retiring from the road with one last tour after five decades together.
The I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing hit-makers will take in 40 dates across the US and Canada later this year when they officially “peace out”, which is also the name of the tour.
Kicking off on September 2 in Philadelphia, the tour will include a stop in the rock band’s hometown of Boston on New Year’s Eve and will wrap up on January 26 in Montreal.
Announcing the news on social media, the group wrote: “After 50 years, 10 world tours and playing for over 100 million fans, it’s time for one last go.
“It’s not goodbye, it’s PEACE OUT!” bandmates Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford added in a joint statement. “Get ready and walk this way, you’re going to get the best show of our lives.”
Meanwhile, drummer Joey Kramer will sit out the farewell tour to “focus his attention on his family and health” since the band’s Las Vegas residency last year.
Reflecting on their decision to retire from the road, guitarist Joe Perry said: “I think it’s about time.”
One inescapable factor is age, with all founding band members now over the age of 70. Tyler is the oldest, at 75.
“It’s kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we’ve been out here,” Perry added. “You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this … It’s been a while since we’ve actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but [we’re] kind of anxious to get back on the road.“
Since originally forming in 1970, Aerosmith have gone on to win four Grammy Awards and broken boundaries by intersecting rock and hip-hop through their epic collaboration with Run-DMC, Walk This Way.
In 1999 they landed their own theme park attraction at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith ride.
2001 saw them perform at the Super Bowl half-time show.
