In 1979, Aerosmith recorded Night in the Ruts. Shortly after recording this album, Joe Perry left the band and formed ‘The Joe Perry Project’.
When Joe Perry left Aerosmith, the album “Night in the Ruts” fell off the charts. The album would only produce one single to hit the charts, and that was a cover of “The Shangri-Las” Remember (Walking in the sand), which only reached #67 on the charts. Although this album was a disappointment to it’s fans when released, it did eventually go platinum several years later.
Joe Perry was replaced by Richard Supa, and then by Jimmy Crespo, formerly of the band “Flame”
During this time, Aerosmith continued to tour with new band member Jimmy Crespo, but the bands popularity began to slip. A combination of drug induced antics, and what their fans felt was less than Aerosmith music left the band in an era of turmoil.
In early 1980, Steven Tyler collapsed on stage in Portland Maine. In the fall of that same year, Steven Tyler had a serious motorcycle accident which left him in hospital for two months. Steven’s accident kept him out of the studio until 1981 was well underway.
1980 wasn’t all bad for Aerosmith however. It was during this year that Aerosmith released their Greatest Hits album which went on to become the band’s best selling album of all time, with over 11 million copies sold.
In 1981, Aerosmith again was in turmoil after Brad Whitford decided to also leave the band. He was replaced by Rick Dufay. After the departure of Whitford, Aerosmith recorded “Rock in a Hard Place” in 1982. The album however, failed to produce a major hit single and was considered a complete bust. By this time, many Aerosmith fans ceased to exist, but Aerosmith continued to tour in support of the album. During this tour, Steven Tyler once again collapsed while on stage after reportedly doing drugs backstage with former band member, Joe Perry.
In February of 1984, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford were present for one of Aeorsmith’s concerts. The band members got together after the concert, and two months later, Perry and Whitford were officially welcomed back to Aerosmith. Steven Tyler was quoted as saying that “You should have felt the buzz the moment all five of us got together in the same room for the first time again. We all started laughin’—it was like the five years had never passed. We knew we’d made the right move.”
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