Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer sues band for keeping him from performing at Grammys
Aux Features MusicAt the Grammys on Sunday, Aerosmith is being presented with the MusiCares Person Of The Year Award, with the band getting to do the usual career-spanning medley performance during the show. Apparently, though, one member of the band won’t be joining the rest of the group, with TMZ reporting that drummer Joey Kramer is actually suing Aerosmith for not letting him play at the Grammys. Kramer has apparently been on leave from the band since early last year after suffering some kind of injury that impacted his drumming, and while he says he was ready to get back to playing in the fall, the other Aerosmith members supposedly forced him to “audition” to get back in by playing along to a “click track” that they would listen to later—in other words, they wouldn’t even play with him in person.
Kramer eventually gave in and recorded his audition, but the band rejected him for not having enough “energy.” He says the other members are unfairly and purposefully keeping him out of major milestone events (like this Grammys performance) for some reason. Things have gone back and forth between the two sides since Kramer filed his lawsuit, with TMZ’s sources saying the timing of all of this is just about Kramer being mad that he won’t get money from being on TV, Kramer responding by saying that he cares more about being forced out of the band he’s been with for 50 years than he does about money, and then Aerosmith saying that it tried to find a way to get Kramer back in time but it ultimately didn’t have a choice but to move ahead without him.
Aerosmith also released a statement saying as much:
We would be doing a disservice to Joey, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse. Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events… Given his decisions he is unfortunately unable to perform but of course we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honor. We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage.
60 Comments
Are we sure Mrs. Krabappel isn’t keeping his drumsticks away from him again?
You mean Mrs. Crandall?
I knew this would be comment number one.
MusiCares! About petty shit!
Jesus Christ, how bad a musician do you have to be to not be good enough to play with fucking Aerosmith?
On the flipside, Lars Ulrich is still performing with metallica and he can’t count to 4. the world is a weird place.
Metallica, the heavy metal waltz band.
“1!-2!-3!-4!, 1!-2!-3!-4!, 1!-2!-3!-4! Now an awkward snare fill since you can no longer locate your toms!” – Robert Trujillo, stage left at all metallica gigs.
They’ve historically been a groove-based band rather than a song-based band. The rhythm section needs to be tight as a sparrow’s arsehole to pull that off, and they usually have.
I guess that’s fair, but this is a medley played at the Grammys. There’s no time to get into any groove, and it’s not going to be any good no matter what they do.
Yeah, I’m thinking it’s probably pretty hypocritical of them to be complaining about his freaking energy level.
That is absolutely a fair point.
This. What this guy says. *sorry for assuming you’re a “guy”.
wow, Aerosmith are a bigger group of dicks than i thought.
Or, you know…read the fucking article.
I read the article, they still sound like dicks.
funny that you assume i didn’t.
So,Group of crows = murderGroup of owls = parliamentGroup of dicks = Aerosmith
Dear God they look old. They look like rejected Skeksis designs someone fished out of the Henson Creature Shop dumpster. Joe Perry especially.
They are old but there’s also a lot more wear and tear on them than your average septuagenarian – drugs, alcohol, decades of touring et al. take its toll.
If they all wear red hats they can get a free tea down at the senior’s centre.
Joe Perry’s already got the jump on the “Babu Frik mustache” bandwagon.
I can’t fault them for looking their age… but I can fault them for still trying to look like rebel steam punk pirates instead of something more age appropriate. You can still be stylish in your 70s, but have a little more dignity. Everyone knows they’re not young anymore.
They should take a clue from Bowie you didn’t see him were his clothing from the Ziggy Stardust period when he got older.
And all the fat-skinny people, and all the tall-short people
And all the nobody people, and all the somebody people
I never thought I’d need so many people
Yes. That’s the problem. Aging rockers do love their hats, especially berets. I’d love it if many of them just went for the Bryan Ferry look or Eric Clapton age-appropriate suit on Unplugged.
Fuck age limits on style. Stop expecting people to dress a certain way because of age.
I was going to say they look like a Real Housewives cast picture. It’s always surreal looking at 70 year olds in their full rock gear. There’s probably a song in that. “The sad old musician clutching at a youth that’s already slipped through his fingers.” Would make a great Aerosmith track.
Judging by this picture, the Grammys are sure to be SPOOKtacular fun for BOILS and GHOULS of all ages
That’s one down. Now, what do we have to do to stop the rest from playing?
This happens to most old drummers who aren’t Charlie Watts. Black Sabbath did something similar to Bill Ward.
yeah, sabbath claimed he was “too old” to keep up during live performances or some shit like that.
The Moody Blues just went to having two drummers. seems like a fair approach.
to be fair, Bill Ward ultimately conceded that his health had impacted his abilities. but it was an ugly event nonetheless.
To be fair, they replaced him with drummers who can’t swing so it was extra clear that he wasn’t there.
Makes me wonder if U2 is eventually going to have to call it a day with touring due to drumming becoming too physically difficult for Larry Mullen as opposed to Bono’s vocals.
Bono strains for the high notes these days. I still enjoy watching them live, though.
Larry Mullen Sr’s Son looks like he does pilates. I bet he’ll be able to outlast Bono’s vocal chords.
Sitting alone in a studio, playing along to a click track, to see if he qualifies for his own job.Yeah, I can see why it might not have been all that energetic.
My recording in this situation would just be me yelling “fuck you assholes” to the rhythm of the click track. But I’m not a drummer or a musician.
I would do everything in time but move all of the snare hits a 16th note ahead and see if Tom Hamilton even noticed.
“Person of the Year” What, now?Some sort of lifetime achievement thing I could understand, but wtf did they do last year that was so special?
they lived
Ironically, kicking Joey Kramer out of the band is what made them eligible for the award.
Awwww…. he just didn’t want to miss a thing.
I’m not sure if I hate you more for making this dad joke or hate me more in that I was going to make it but checked to see if I was beaten first.
I’m both cringing at and respecting that comment.
Looks like it’s The Same Ol Song And Dance in the music business. I am sure given time Joey will be Back In The Saddle Again.
ha, Dream On.
i want to know: did they have a meeting where they decided how each member was going to dress like a complete dickhead? Tyler looks like ET when they dressed him as a woman. Perry looks like if GG Allin and Nikki Sixx had a baby. The rest of them are leagues behind, but still look dumb as shit.
Someone’s fourth wife has a side gig as a terrible stylist.
Someone tell Joey Rush has an opening……..Too soon?
probably, but i still giggled.
Joey Kramer couldn’t back the Rockabye Baby! versions of Rush
Somehow I dont think we will see the day that Danny Carey has to play to a click track as an audition to play with tool.
Yeah, he can’t qualify for go-kart racing, so let’s have him try out for F1 instead.
Wait wait wait… the live performances at the Grammys are actually live? I figured he could could just get up there and go through the motions like the rest of the band.
Imagine being 70+ and still dressing like that.