Steven Tyler has a busy week ahead of him: along with a with a media blitz to promote “American Idol’s” season premiere on Wednesday (Jan. 19), the Aerosmith frontman says he’ll hit the studio with his bandmates this weekend in Los Angeles to start recording the group’s first album since 2004’s “Honkin’ on Bobo.”
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“We’ve certainly been writing. I know [guitarist] Joe [Perry]’s got some licks, and I got a bunch of songs that I’ve written for solo and/or Aerosmith,” Tyler said during an “Idol” conference call with reporters. “I will be flying out of New York tomorrow night and be back in L.A. and watch the premiere Wednesday night. I get Thursday off, and Friday I’m writing with [producer] Marti Frederiksen, and Saturday we’re into a writing program with the band.”
Steven Tyler Q&A: Wild Man of ‘Idol’
Tyler also shared plans for the band’s next tour, saying that Aerosmith will hit the road in the fall following the end of the “Idol” season.
“We’re already booked for a tour for November-December, that should be South America and Japan,” he says, “so what you hear in the press of Aerosmith getting in the way of ‘American Idol,’ it just isn’t so.”
While Tyler expects Aerosmith to remain successful during his “Idol” gig, he confirmed that he is signed to a contract that lasts more than one year, although he wouldn’t reveal its full length. The singer also discussed his experience on “American Idol” thus far and how Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson’s places on the judges panel helped convince him to become involved with the show.
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“I met Randy first, before [Lopez], and Randy was the shit,” says Tyler. “I loved Randy. He and I got on within the first five minutes, it was like we were separated at birth… and on the way from England to America, I saw J. Lo’s movie, ‘The Back-Up Plan,’ and I fell in love with her…. The way she played her part, I could so relate to it. Anybody who can be this open and honest, even acting, I fell for it. All I can tell you is when I met her, she was exactly all that, and I was grateful that she got the part.”
To read more about Tyler’s “Idol” experience and what he looks for in a contestant, check out the singer’s recent Q&A with Billboard editorial director Bill Werde.