10 Steven Tyler Stories And Facts During His Career

If one were to list rockstars that lived the rock and roll life to the fullest, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler would probably be part of the top ten. The other 50% of the band’s Toxic Twins, Tyler was the epitome of being overachievement – whether it be good or bad stuff. Here are some interesting (and weird) facts and stories that you might’ve not learned about Mr. Tallarico.

27 year Old Steven and his girlfriend of 16

Steven Tyler was 27 when he started living together with groupie turned girlfriend Julia Holcomb, who was only 16 at the time. In an attempt to circumvent legal issues, Tyler convinced her parents to pass over Julia’s guardianship to him. The two were together for a while until things fell apart due to Holcomb’s pregnancy and subsequent abortion, where she moved back with her parents shortly after.

Toxic Twins Forever

Tyler and Joe Perry were inseparable during their good days together in the band – but this particular story had a twist. When the two engaged in a foursome, they accidentally contracted an STI. Tyler wrote in his 2012 memoir: “I remember one night on the road when Joe and I were sharing a bed with two girls and woke up in the morning with a seafood blue plate special… Crabs for everybody!”

Forgetting Your Own Song

This is just the first of many drug-addled stories in this list, with this being one of the more hilarious accounts. When Aerosmith gathered for a reunion in 1984 to break the inactivity fast, they still haven’t learned to control their substance abuse issues. On one occasion, they hung out at a famous Boston DJ’s apartment while the host spun records for them. As music was blasting, Tyler said, “Hey! [This song is] great! We should cover it. Who is it?” Perry replied, “It’s us, f*ckhead.” Tyler was so drowned in drugs that he entirely forgot “You See Me Crying” from Toys In The Attic. 

Blowing Money on Blow

Almost everyone would agree on how Tyler’s excessive drug use trumped almost everyone else in the rock scene. But to waste around $6 million on cocaine alone? That’s just absurd. Tyler said in a 60 Minutes interview that: “Realistically, five or six [million]. But it doesn’t matter. You also could say I snorted half of Peru, but it doesn’t matter.”

Even Jerry Garcia was worried for him and the band

The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was no stranger to drug use, being one of the most known users in the industry himself. That should provide a benchmark when Garcia started to worry for Aerosmith, and superficially, Tyler. “Jerry Garcia says that we were the druggiest bunch of guys the Grateful Dead ever saw. They were worried about us, so that gives you some idea of how f*cked up and crazy we were,” said the rocker in a Rolling Stone feature of Aerosmith.

No one can’t resist Tyler, except for…

Tyler was pretty confident in his moves, even saying that he was “a persistent motherf*cker. I’m very sensual and very rhythm-oriented and into poetry. Women can feel that.” However, not every woman thought that. He admitted in his memoir that he showed up to Joan Jett’s hotel room one night, naked. Jett said, “I’m not into big 10-inch, honey,” in reference to the Aerosmith hit, then shut the door on his face.

Drugs over Women, and the regret that came with it

As said above, Tyler was a promiscuous being that couldn’t just let each passing day without action. His love for drugs was greater than sex, however, which he regrets thoroughly. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he shared: “I’m still bummed that I didn’t get all the pussy I could have had in the ’70s. We were more interested in the finer blends of cocaine from a shipment of dates that came in on the back of some camel with the stamp of a half-moon on it and the star of Lebanon, which by the way was laced with opium. We were real connoisseurs. That was much more important to me than some girl.”

He wasn’t made known to his daughter until she was 12

Ex-girlfriend and mother to his daughter Bebe Buell didn’t introduce Liv to her father till she was 12 due to Tyler’s excessive drug use. It was only until Tyler got into rehab and went clean in the late ’80s, along with Aerosmith’s return to form, did Buell decide to introduce their daughter to him. In an interview with The Guardian, he said, “Now, you ask me about regretting being an absent dad to Liv and Mia (Tyler’s daughter from his first marriage): 50% of me does, but the other 50% realizes that, had I not gone through what I’ve gone through, I’d not be where I am, right here, right now. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I was not there for my two little daughters and I’ve cried about it, cried with them about it. The good news is they love me.”

Spinal Tap was more than just a movie for him

Tyler saw the rock movie Spinal Tap just right when the band and their career was falling apart, shocking him as he saw much of a resemblance of himself in the movie. “I was real high at the time, and Aerosmith was sinking – we were like a boat going down. And that movie was way too close, way too real. Our last album was Rock in a Hard Place, which sold, like, maybe ten copies; Spinal Tap did Stonehenge, and our album cover looked exactly like that. I freaked. I took Spinal Tap real personal,” he said in a 1990 Rolling Stone interview.

He joined American Idol just to spite Aerosmith

Tyler replaced Simon Cowell in 2010 as an American Idol judge for its 10th season. He was more than happy to accept the offer as it was some sort of revenge after Aerosmith threatened to kick him out of the group. In a 2011 Rolling Stone interview, he said, “Did I take this job to show the band? F*ck, yeah. Not to show them, but that I can’t be held hostage anymore. I will be my own hostage. The band can’t throw me out.”