Money talks: Steven Tyler rejoins Aerosmith

Aerosmith announced on their website that after months hints that he'd quit, a stint in rehab and threats to replace him, Steven Tyler is back with the band and ready to tour.

The band is heading out with their "Cocked, Locked and Ready to Rock" European tour this summer.


Tyler's been acting strange since he fell off a stage and broke his leg back in August. For a time, he huddled with Tabloid Baby pal Mark Hudson to work on his autobiography before being convinced to clean up his act. He and Joe Perry, meanwhile, rarely spend time in the same room, and they managed to get four of the five members together for the reunion announcement video on the website.


Most striking in the video is the obvious toll throat cancer has taken on bassist Tom Hamilton, who's been replaced on tour periodically in recent years by longtime Aerosmith and Tabloid Baby pal David Hull.


He is, however, still rockin'.

David Hull is back with Aerosmith

We reported three years ago on the Still Crazy-style resurrection of David Hull, the local rock star from Tabloid Baby’s teenage years who'd been called out of obscurity to tour as a member of Aerosmith.

David was the coolest bass player out of Statford, Connecticut (and still a teenager) forty years ago when he and local guitar hero Charlie Karp joined The Buddy Miles Express in time to play on the Them Changes album (the song appears on the new Eric Clapton-Stevie Winwood live album). David and Charlie toured the world before going on to their own success with White Chocolate and The Dirty Angels, including opening for their stadium pals Aerosmith (they'd been working with Steven Tyler when Buddy Miles called). David would later join The Joe Perry Project, and settled in the Boston area, where he remained a part of the blues and rock scene for decades.

Then, in 2006, Aerosmith called him back up to the big leagues, to fill in on tour for bassist Tom Hamilton, who was stricken with throat cancer. He was received warmly by fans, even when he played Tom's signature opening riff to Sweet Emotion, and was suddenly a rock star in his fifties.

Three years later, Aerosmth's on the road again, and David Hull is once again filling in for ailing Tom Hamilton. The band's site reports:

AEROSMITH bassist TOM HAMILTON will be sitting out some dates of the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Presents Aerosmith tour dates with special guests ZZ Top as he recuperates from non-invasive surgery. Filling in for TOM will be David Hull, a longtime friend of the band who played in the Joe Perry Project and who sat in for TOM on various shows in 2006. When STEVEN TYLER, JOE PERRY, AND JOEY KRAMER return to the road on July 15 at Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta, GA, they’ll be welcoming back BRAD WHITFORD, who has recovered from a recent surgery after having sat out the opening dates of the tour.

Aerosmith is battered. Tyler is recovering from leg surgery and drummer Kramer's got a new book about his depression and addictions. We're sure Joe Perry's not feeling so hot himself. Yet, they rock on. And David Hull can be considered one of the boys.

David Hull photo by Glen Masso