Joey Kramer will not be joining Aerosmith on their Peace Out farewell tour kicking off on September 2 in Philadelphia.
In a statement shared by the band, they explained that the drummer is choosing to put his health and family ahead of the tour. The statement read: “While Joey Kramer remains a beloved founding member of Aerosmith, he has regrettably made the decision to sit out the currently scheduled touring dates to focus his full attention on his family and health.“
Kramer is Aerosmith’s original drummer of more than 50 years, and his decision to forego their final trek can be traced back several years, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
To start, the drummer suffered an injury in a “minor accident” back in 2019 during the band’s Las Vegas residency. A few months following the accident, Aerosmith was being honored at the Grammys and gearing up to put on a performance there. Reportedly, the band wanted to determine if Kramer was “able to play at an appropriate level” that night, and asked the drummer to audition to prove himself. Following that audition, the band members decided that Kramer “did not have enough energy” to perform with them. Per Ultimate Classic Rock, a lawsuit was later filed against the band by Kramer, in which he claimed that he was “being deprived of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers, for our collective, lifetime contributions to the music industry.” Additionally, Kramer made the observation that no other member of the band was required to or asked to audition following a health scare that they faced.
That night at the Grammys, the drummer did join Aerosmith on stage to accept the honor, but did not join them behind the drum kit for their performance. He would return to performing with the group later that year, but did not join them for their return to Vegas for another residency in 2022. To add to the difficulties he was facing, Kramer’s wife, Linda, passed away a few months after Aerosmith had returned to Vegas.
This leads us to the Peace Out farewell tour, starting in just a few days on September 2. When the band made the tour’s announcement, they shared that Kramer would not be joining them. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, the drummer has been noticeably absent from the promotional material surrounding the tour. In a statement regarding the absence of Kramer on the tour, the band noted that the drummer’s “unmistakable and legendary presence behind the drum kit will be sorely missed.”
Shortly before the tour was announced, Joe Perry commented on how difficult drumming can be, stating that Kramer isn’t in the best physical condition to join them. He said,
“That’s probably one of the hardest things. Drumming is probably one of the most athletic parts of playing in a band, so it’s really hard. It’s been mostly because physically, [Joey has] just been beating himself up over the last 50 years. So, I don’t know. I mean, he’s still officially a member of the band. But I don’t think he’s gonna be sitting behind the drums.”
Aerosmith’s farewell tour has been promised to be their “biggest production ever,” with a “133 person crew, 22 semi trucks, 158 rigging points, 10 tour busses, over 600 lights, 67 guitars, 10 basses, 5 scarves and 4 legends of rock!”
Although Kramer won’t be joining them this time, he will still be remembered as the legendary drummer that played a key role in Aerosmith’s success.
