Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer has released the following statement in response to a judge denying his request to allow him to return to playing with the band.
“Although I’m extremely disappointed by the Judge’s ruling…I respect it. I knew filing a lawsuit was a bit of an uphill battle considering that the corporate documents don’t reference any process for a band member returning from an injury or illness. However, the band waited until January 15th to tell me that they weren’t letting me play at the awards ceremonies this week. I can hold my head high knowing that I did the right thing — to fight for my right to celebrate the band’s success that I have dedicated the better part of my life to helping build.
The truth speaks for itself. Ever since I injured my foot last August and went through many hours of physical therapy to heal, not once did the band in its entirety offer to rehearse with me. That is a fact. I was also sent the full rehearsal schedule on January 18th and flew to LA the next day to rehearse and have many texts and emails stating the band can’t wait for my return. That’s also a fact. When I showed up to rehearse, I was greeted by two security guards who prohibited me from entering.
The band’s offer to allow me to participate in this week’s MusiCares and Grammy celebrations for red carpet photo ops only, is appreciated; however, with a fill-in drummer playing on stage at two events honoring our collective musical contributions, it is extremely hurtful to me. I am a professional musician who is eager to return to my rightful place with Aerosmith.
I want to thank my fans for the incredible outpouring of support and for sharing my goal of taking my place on stage as one of the five founding members of Aerosmith and continuing to play the music I love.”
TMZ has obtained video (see below) from over the weekend showing Kramer arrive at an Aerosmith Grammy rehearsal in Los Angeles, only to be turned away by two security guards. The guards make it clear that they were given the orders to refuse his entry by the other four members of the band.
Aerosmith’s official statement regarding Kramer’s lawsuit reads,
Aerosmith’s read, “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.”
The statement continues, “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.”
See video here: https://www.tmz.com/2020/01/22/aerosmith-drummer-joey-kramer-denied-judge-grammy-performance-lawsuit/
14 Responses
The “we are a family” went out the window when Kramer sued ’em…come on guys, can we please, you know…get it together on here?
Wow, that video was hard to watch. I guess it’s possible that he can’t do the gig right now due to surgery, but they are one of the few bands who have held the original members together for nearly a half century. It’s got to be a little weird filling in for him as well, knowing how many fans will not approve. I do agree as was stated earlier, than had it been another certain member, it could have been a lot uglier. The truth with these situations is that the replacement is usually technically a better player (younger, with less injuries), but he’s been the engine of this band forever. I hope this doesn’t deteriorate into a Bill Ward situation after he fully recovers, where they simply prefer the replacement and do an album without Joey.
Eddie Trunk’s silence on this matter is deafening. Probably doesn’t want to upset his pal J.P.