When Steven Tyler Messed Up Burger Joint Where Joe Perry Worked

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry recalled his first experiences with future bandmate Steven Tyler before they were properly introduced to each other.

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Perry looked back at his six-decade relationship with the singer and how they collectively became known as the Toxic Twins after connecting in Boston and forming the band.

“The first time I met him, I didn’t really meet him, so to speak,” Perry explained. “I was working in a hamburger joint in the lake area, and I did everything from cooking the french fries to sweeping the floor and taking out the trash.”

He added that Tyler’s family had a place there, “a bed and breakfast kind of thing, and every summer he’d come up from New York with one of his bands. I remember them rolling in and basically behaving like what they thought rock stars should do, which was throw food at each other. So they left and I had to clean up after them.”

The pair’s tumultuous relationship has caused them to fall out over the years, sometimes in public. But, Perry said, “This is no bullshit, man, he’s probably my best friend through all of it. We just know we’re different people. Even through the ‘70s, we were the ones that would go off on a scuba diving trip together. In the '80s and '90s, [my wife] Billie and I bought a bus so we could go out and have our kids and bring a dog with us. I remember we went out to the desert in Las Vegas with Steven. They had this truck on the big, flat desert with a parachute thing, and we all took turns going up in this thing.”

Around 2010 it looked like Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith were headed in different directions before they finally met as a group and talked it out. Looking back, Perry expressed regret that they didn't keep communication channels more open. "There was a lot going on, so I filled it with writing, that’s why I’ve got seven or eight solo albums," he explained. "I just wish some of those songs had been … I played most of that stuff to Steven."

Aerosmith announced their Peace Out farewell tour last month.