Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton has spoken about the future of the band and said that the members “could do something” if Steven Tyler was willing.
The update comes as Aerosmith confirmed last year that their days of touring had come to an immediate end, following the frontman seriously injuring his voice at a gig.
Their final live show took place at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York back in September 2023, and no one – including the band themselves – knew it would be their last.
Now, Hamilton has opened up about hopes for the future during a new interview with Boston radio station WBUR, and said that while Tyler is well underway with his “healing process”, the chances of the band making any new announcements are slim.
“Steven’s healing process is going really, really well, but it goes at its own pace,” he said. “Maybe Aerosmith will do something in the future, but it’s a big ‘if’, and the last thing I want to be doing is to try and push Steven in that direction. If we do anything in the future, it would come from him.”
The comments come after the bassist was asked last summer how hopeful he is, on a scale of one to 10, that the band will reunite. “On the hope scale, I’m somewhere between seven and nine. We won’t be doing any tours from now on, but I’ll always have hope that other types of opportunities will come along,” he told AARP.
“This isn’t the first time black clouds have been on our horizon — and somehow the sun managed to come out. Time and hope are all we have at the moment,” he added, while also dismissing hopes for a Las Vegas residency.
Aerosmith’s final live show was held as part of their ‘Peace Out’ tour, which began in 2023, but only saw the band play three nights, before rescheduling the rest of the dates after Tyler injured his larynx.
Following the announcement that Aerosmith’s touring days had come to an end, numerous famous faces shared their sadness at the news. Queen’s Brian May said that the announcement “brought a tear” to his eye, while Sammy Hagar shared his long history with the members, calling the retirement “a great fucking loss”.
It was later confirmed that fans could watch the band’s final ever show on YouTube in 4K quality.
Tom Hamilton also gave fans an update on how the decision to quit tour was made last year, telling Charlie Kendall’s Metalshop: “The decision was made by the team which includes the band and our dedicated management… We don’t know what the future holds but it won’t include touring.”
In that same interview, he also said he “can’t imagine” the band continuing with a new singer, and added: “I’m sure all of us have music in our future and it will manifest itself in ways that we haven’t planned yet. I’ve been playing in a band with some good friends. We have a bunch of really good songs and we hope to be putting them out soon and hopefully doing some gigs.”
Shortly afterwards, the bassist announced details of his first shows with a new band called Close Enemies.
The rest of the Close Enemies line-up includes drummer Tony Brock, singer Chasen Hampton, and guitarists Peter Stroud and Trace Foster.
The drummer was a founding member of the English band The Babys and has also worked with Elton John, Rod Stewart and more. Foster was Hamilton’s bass technician in Aerosmith, and Stroud has previously worked with names including Sheryl Crow and Don Henley.