Aerosmith fans are only just learning the true meaning behind the band's iconic name
The band – consisting of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford – began making music in the early 1970s.
Together they developed a sound which is mostly rooted in blues-based hard rock with influences of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues.
While they've had mega hits throughout the years, including Sweet Emotion, Dream On, and Walk This Way, the group's name has left many fans stumped.
Unsurprisingly, there has been much speculation over Aerosmith's name over the decades.
Writing on Quora, one fan claimed: 'Joey Kramer, the drummer came up with it, used to doodle the name over and over in his high school notebook.
'Anyway, the rest of the guys in the band liked the name and spelling and the rest is history, America's best rock band was born…'
A conflicting theory suggested that the name Joe and Brad's idea.
'Aerosmith's name has an interesting origin,' another fan said.
'The band's lead guitarist, Joe Perry, and rhythm guitarist, Brad Whitford, came up with the name in the early 1970s.
'It is said that they combined the word "aero," which suggests a sense of airiness or flight, with "smith," a suffix that implies craftsmanship or creation.'
But it was the band's cofounder and drummer Joey Kramer, co-founder who coined the group's name.
According to his 2009 memoir, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top, he was drawn to the name in 1968.
'I was listening to an album at the time, by Harry Nilsson, called Aerial Ballet,' he said.
'We were listening to this record and I started really getting off on the lyrics.
'We started kicking around this word "aerial," and "aerial" eventually came into "aero" – I don't know how that happened. And it was like Aeromind, Aerostar, Aero-this, Aero-that. And somebody said "smith" — Aerosmith? Wow!
'And from then on it was all over my high school psychology books and my math books. The question was always, "What's Aerosmith?"
'And I would tell people: "When I leave high school I'm going to go have a rock 'n' roll band, and that's what it's going to be called. And we're going to be big and famous, and that's the scoop." And they were all like, "Oh, that's very nice, Joey."
Last year, Aerosmith announced their retirement from touring after 54 years, citing lead singer Steven's incurable vocals as the reason behind the tough decision.
The singer sustained vocal cord damage during their farewell tour in 2023.
In a statement written in all capitals, they said: 'IT WAS 1970 WHEN A SPARK OF INSPIRATION BECAME AEROSMITH.
'THANKS TO YOU, OUR BLUE ARMY, THAT SPARK CAUGHT FLAME AND HAS BEEN BURNING FOR OVER FIVE DECADES. SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN WITH US SINCE THE BEGINNING AND ALL OF YOU ARE THE REASON WE MADE ROCK 'N' ROLL HISTORY.'
Aerosmith formed in Boston in 1970 and had been touring for over five decades as they have had dozens of hits in the process leading to four Grammy Awards and a Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2001.
The band - known as 'the Bad Boys from Boston' - also broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for Walk This Way.
The statement continued: 'IT HAS BEEN THE HONOR OF OUR LIVES TO HAVE OUR MUSIC BECOME PART OF YOURS. IN EVERY CLUB, ON EVERY MASSIVE TOUR AND AT MOMENTS GRAND AND PRIVATE YOU HAVE GIVEN US A PLACE IN THE SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIVES.
In 2023, the iconic rock band had been forced to postpone the tour dates on their farewell tour - called Peace Out: The Farewell Tour - after the frontman had sustained a vocal cord injury.
The statement to their fans continued: 'WE'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BLOW YOUR MIND WHEN PERFORMING. AS YOU KNOW, STEVEN'S VOICE IS AN INSTRUMENT LIKE NO OTHER. HE HAS SPENT MONTHS TIRELESSLY WORKING ON GETTING HIS VOICE TO WHERE IT WAS BEFORE HIS INJURY. WE'VE SEEN HIM STRUGGLING DESPITE HAVING THE BEST MEDICAL TEAM BY HIS SIDE.
'SADLY, IT IS CLEAR, THAT A FULL RECOVERY FROM HIS VOCAL INJURY IS NOT POSSIBLE. WE HAVE MADE A HEARTBREAKING AND DIFFICULT, BUT NECESSARY, DECISION - AS A BAND OF BROTHERS- TO RETIRE FROM THE TOURING STAGE.'
They concluded their sincere message to their millions of fans by expressing their gratitude to them and everyone else who helped contributing to making them one of the most iconic acts in Rock 'n Roll history.
The statement concluded: 'WE ARE GRATEFUL BEYOND WORDS FOR EVERYONE WHO WAS PUMPED TO GET ON THE ROAD WITH US ONE LAST TIME. GRATEFUL TO OUR EXPERT CREW, OUR INCREDIBLE TEAM AND THE THOUSANDS OF TALENTED PEOPLE WHO'VE MADE OUR HISTORIC RUNS POSSIBLE.
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