At one point during the late 2000s, Aerosmith considered replacing lead singer Steven Tyler. Paul Rodgers, Sammy Hagar, Chris Cornell, and Lenny Kravitz were all being considered to fill his legendary spot. Chris Daughtry’s name was also thrown in the hat, and then former American Idol runner-up had to turn down Joe Perry’s offer.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I get this random call from Joe Perry,” shared Daughtry. “Joe Perry and Steven were apparently at odds with each other. It was all in the news. This isn’t private information. I think this was right when Steven Tyler was going on American Idol, and they weren’t touring together. I think it was like a public breakup sort of thing.”
Daughtry continued, “Joe Perry calls me. I’m like, ‘First of all, I didn’t know Joe Perry had my number. This is incredible.’ I thought it was a joke at first, but he didn’t even take time to [say] like, ‘How are you doing?’ He just went into his reason for calling me: ‘And I don’t know what Steven’s doing, but we wanna work. How would you feel about hitting the road with us? You’ve got some cool songs we could play, too.'”
At first, Daughtry said he was speechless following Perry’s request. “First of all, I don’t consider myself any caliber of singer that Steven Tyler is as far as I would not be able to tackle those songs the way Steven Tyler tackles them,” said Daughtry. “He is irreplaceable in my mind. Furthermore, Steven Tyler’s alive. This whole fear of pissing off one of my heroes was just looming, and I was, like, ‘There’s no way I can do this, Joe.'”
Though the concept was a “terrifying” one for Daughtry to consider, he said it’s a “story that I will hold near and dear for the rest of my life.”
[RELATED: Daughtry and Lzzy Hale Talk Covering Journey’s “Separate Ways”]
Following his 2006 debut, Daughtry, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and platinum six times, the singer’s 2009 follow-up, Leave This Town, also topped the chart. He released four more albums with his band Daughtry through his most recent Dearly Departed in 2021 and recently shared the new single “Artificial,” after signing with Big Machine Records.
Aerosmith released their 15th and most recent album, Music From Another Dimension, in 2012, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The band is set to kick off their Peace Out Farewell Tour with The Black Crowes on September 2 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their final tour is scheduled to wrap up at the Bell Centre in Montreal on January 26, 2024.
Photo by Denise Truscello / Gettyimages
