With little fanfare other than an onstage announcement by Steven Tyler, Aerosmith co-founder Joey Kramer is back behind the drums for the band, according to Billboard. Kramer, who had been temporarily sidelined following surgery, played the entire Monday night (February 10th) set during the band's “Deuces Are Wild” residency at the Park Theater Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.
Last month, Kramer unsuccessfully filed suit against the band claiming he was forced to audition to keep his job following surgery and was deemed too weak to perform. Kramer specifically took umbrage at being not permitted to play at the band's MusiCares honor on January 24th or the Grammys on January 27th. TMZ posted footage of Kramer being turned away from an Aerosmith Grammy rehearsal.
Although Joey Kramer was forced to sit things out, Aerosmith's Grammy reunion with Run-DMC performing “Walk This Way” brought the two groups full circle. Bassist Tom Hamilton told us the band's collaboration with Run-DMC remains one of the most significant moments in their entire career: “I'm still amazed that this many years later people ask about it. I'm amazed, yet it makes perfect sense. To me, it never felt like. . . It felt completely natural for a couple of white guitar player-singers to go and do a record with a rap band. It just seemed like a logical progression to me, so I didn't think of it as this startling breakthrough, but that's the way a lot of people really look at it. I think the rest of the band really had no idea that it was gonna be that big.”
