June 17, 2004

Steven Tyler's Throat Leaves Aerosmith Singin' The Blues

By Jon Wiederhorn (MTV.com)

Frontman Steven Tyler's recurring throat problems are impairing Aerosmith's hopes of ending their tour with '70s pop rockers Cheap Trick with a bang.

The Boston veterans have canceled four shows in the past two weeks, and so far have only added one make-up show.

Aerosmith are still scheduled to play Friday in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, after which the band plans to perform its last five original gigs of the North American tour, plus an additional concert on June 30 in Pelham, Alabama. That show replaces the group's June 6 concert, which was the first show scrapped.

The other canceled dates were June 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 14 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and June 16 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Aerosmith launched the tour to support their blues album, Honkin' on Bobo, on March 11 in Lubbock, Texas.

The group has been on the road with great regularity since 2001, when it released Just Push Play, its most recent disc of original material. In November of that year, Tyler suffered a similar throat condition, causing Aerosmith to postpone a handful of gigs.