Joe Perry
Joe Perry
Anthony Joseph Pereira, better known by his stage name Joe Perry, is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the American rock band Aerosmith. He was ranked 84th in Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Aerosmith, and in 2013, Perry and his songwriting partner Steven Tyler were recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth10 September 1950
CountryUnited States of America
This time it wasn't like I had some deadline or any agenda or was even thinking like that. This was an absolutely no-pressure situation, just an at-home project, totally different from any kind of record I've made before.
I think we're just a garage band that got lucky. It's the enthusiasm from the audience that keeps it going.
Five years after Aerosmith got back together, I realized how fragile we are as humans. There was a time I thought we were bulletproof, but then things happened and I came to the realization that I had to play every gig as if it was my last show. You have to start thinking that way, because you never know what's going to happen next.
I think one of the most valuable things Aerosmith has is the energy we produce when we all play together.
I think people have to be more aware of what the repercussions are of their actions.
I think that... the age of just slapping songs into movies, that's done.
I don't think there's anything anybody's doing that the Beatles didn't at least try at some point.
I didn't think I could go onstage and play unless I had a beer to loosen up. Well, if it was only one beer to loosen up, I'd probably still be drinking today.
I know that the gift that God gave me isn't gonna just wither up and die unless I let it die, so it's a matter of me having the faith that it's gonna come out. Whether or not the public's gonna like it is another story. But I think as long as I keep changing and sticking to what I really love - and the same goes for Steven and the other guys in the band - then people are gonna like it.
I don't want fans to think we're clean, upstanding American boys, but we are Americans, and we do stand up.
I think that's really important, that kids get exposed to music as soon as they can - not necessarily to become musicians, but at least have an outlet. It's an art form that's easily accessible to young ears.
You think it's all written, but it's not. There's always another way to twist those three chords around.
We went back to the beginning of the band's career for some of these songs. We had fun knocking the dust off them but it was a little nerve-racking too, because we hadn't played some of the songs in a while. I think we've only played 'No More No More' live a total of 20 times in our entire career. We were going on muscle memory for some of these, which gave our performance an edge.
I've seen bands split up for five years and do nothing. That sounds great to me, but it just hasn't worked out that way.