Aerosmith and Yungblud join forces to create music magic
In the spring of the current year, Dominic Harrison, known as Yungblud, encountered a life-changing moment when he sat down with Aerosmith’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. While Harrison had some familiarity with Perry, meeting Tyler was a new experience for him.
The connection between Harrison and Tyler had deep roots, extending beyond the Aerosmith memorabilia hung in his family’s guitar shop back in Doncaster. It wasn’t merely the exposure to Aerosmith’s music during his upbringing; it was something more profound. “I think I always really loved Steven because a lot of people, since I was a kid, said I looked like him,” Harrison shared. “I think when you have that mouth…”
Harrison’s visit to Los Angeles to meet Tyler and Perry, just before his 28th birthday, was a journey filled with curiosity and uncertainty. The purpose of their meeting was vague, and Harrison pondered what his role would be in their potential musical collaboration. Would he contribute as a songwriter, a producer, a collaborator, or something else entirely? The ambiguity in their trajectory was amplified by Tyler’s reemergence from a period of seclusion.
The uncertainty of the situation led Harrison to take extra measures, such as having his producer Matt Schwartz on standby at a nearby studio. The outcome was purely speculative, contingent on the chemistry between the individuals involved. “Because on a first date,” Harrison reflected, “you either fuck or you hate each other. You know what I mean? Steven is going to love me or hate me. And I’m going to love Steven or I’m going to not like him. Two fucking frontmen. You either do this [Harrison mimes, with his hands, two opposing forces in confrontation] or you fucking love each other.”
Fortunately, the first encounter between Harrison and Tyler was a harmonious one. Tyler was immediately drawn to Harrison, describing their connection as akin to finding a long-lost sibling. “It was, like, insane, meeting Dom for the first time,” Tyler expressed. “I fucking fell in love with him, first sight. All I could think of was – dare I say something that’s been used to death? – he was like a brother from another mother. It was like looking at myself in the mirror. Like: ‘Wait, where have I seen this fucking guy before?’” Within 20 minutes, they found themselves in the studio, setting the stage for a creative partnership.
Aerosmith’s trajectory took an unexpected turn on 9 September 2023 during their farewell tour when Tyler suffered a debilitating throat injury. The incident shook the band’s foundation, leaving their future uncertain. “We had a fucking beautiful stage,” Tyler recalled. “It was so big, it was pushed out to the middle, right underneath the scoreboard. I went to the back of the stage, behind the drum set. There was a ramp where you put extra people in, and I was slapping five with a bunch of girls – I slapped a girl with my other hand and my right hand slipped off the railing and I landed on my throat.” The aftermath of the injury left Tyler in a state of panic, unsure of the magnitude of the harm he had inflicted on himself.
Despite the setback, the serendipitous collaboration between Aerosmith and Yungblud was born out of this unexpected turn of events. The union of these rock legends and the rising star paved the way for a remarkable five-track EP that blended the iconic sounds of Aerosmith with the bold, unapologetic voice of Yungblud. The magic that unfolded in the studio symbolized the power of music to transcend generational gaps and fuel creative synergy.