Originally hailed as a poor-man's Rolling Stones, Aerosmith was formed in 1970 in New Hampshire by drummer-turned-vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. They were later joined by bassist Hamilton, guitarist Whitford, and drummer Kramer. And they soon relocated to Boston, where they became club favorites. In 1973 they released their debut album on Columbia Records and found a hit single in "Dream On." Aerosmith returned late the next year with Get Your Wings, which stayed on the charts for over 85 weeks despite little airplay. It was in 1975 that Aerosmith would break through with the release of Toys in the Attic with the hit singles, "Sweet Emotion" and "Walk This Way" pushing the album to #11 and producing some of classic rock's best known standards.
The band began to drift apart. Perry and Whitford pursued solo projects. Eventually, the rock 'n' roll lifestyle (as well as an abundance of drugs and alcohol) caught up with the band. In 1982, Columbia dropped them. But with every storm cloud, there's a silver lining. By 1984, Perry and Whitford would return to the band and one by one, the members each kicked their respective drug habits. Clean, sober and focused, the band signed with Geffen Records, which eventually led to the Run-D.M.C.'s 1986 collaboration cover of "Walk This Way." That was a Top 10 single and became a regular on MTV rotation. 1987 heralded the release of Permanent Vacation, which spawned more Top 10 hits for the boys from Boston, "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)," "Rag Doll" and "Angel." It sold over 3 million copies and hit number 11 on the Billboard charts. 1989 bore witness to their smash album, Pump, with the hit singles "Janie's Got A Gun" and "Love in an Elevator." Get a Grip followed in 1993. Like Permanent Vacation and Pump, Get a Grip featured significant contributions by professional songwriters, but was as successful as the band\'s previous two records, featuring the hit singles "Crazy," "Cryin'" and "Amazing" -- all of which featured video cameos by Alicia Silverstone (Liv Tyler, Steven\'s daughter, was also featured in "Crazy").
The band returned to Columbia Records and released several songs on the Armageddon soundtrack, one of which was the Diane Warren ballad "I Don\'t Want to Miss a Thing." Later that year, they released Nine Lives, which debuted at number one and went gold in six countries -- platinum in one and double platinum in two countries.[p]2001 saw Aerosmith strutting their stuff on the Superbowl halftime special with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Nelly, 'N Sync, and Britney Spears, just prior to issuing their heart stomping Just Push Play in March 2001, which featured the singles "Jaded," "Sunshine," "Fly Away From Here" and the groove-laden title cut.
