Aerosmith — photo officielle (Ross Halfin, avec l'aimable autorisation de Live Nation)
Three years after cutting their farewell tour short, Aerosmith is back on stage. On October 29 and November 1, the Boston band played two event shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, backed by a guest list that reads like a dream lineup: Dave Grohl on drums, Johnny Depp on guitar, original drummer Joey Kramer making a one-song comeback, and Slash and Run-D.M.C. joining in on night two. Two dates were enough to turn this into a genuine comeback moment for one of America’s biggest rock bands.
A comeback born from a forced pause
The story goes back to 2023. Aerosmith had launched its farewell tour, “Peace Out,” before cutting it short after just a handful of dates: Steven Tyler had suffered vocal cord damage considered irreversible for the demands of a full tour. The band hadn’t performed live since. Billed as “California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends,” the Hollywood Bowl event was never just another date on the calendar — it marked the first time fans saw the band in a live setting since that abrupt stop. Part of the proceeds went to Janie’s Fund, Steven Tyler’s foundation supporting abused and neglected children.
The timing wasn’t an accident either. Earlier this year the band reissued its self-titled 1973 debut album in an expanded “Legendary Edition,” featuring unreleased tapes, alternate takes and a new lyric video for its breakout track, “Dream On.” Between the reissue and the one-billion-plus streams the song has racked up on Spotify, Tyler’s piano ballad hasn’t aged a day in over fifty years.
Six songs, and no shortage of moments
Night one’s set ran to just six songs, but each one carried weight. Dave Grohl, who by Tyler’s own account had pushed hard to be part of the night, handled drums on the first five tracks. For the closer, “Walk This Way,” original drummer Joey Kramer took his old seat back: he had left the band for health reasons before the 2023 pause, and his return, brief as it was, became one of the evening’s most emotional moments.
On “Train Kept A-Rollin’,” Johnny Depp joined on guitar alongside Joe Perry, a direct nod to their shared history in the Hollywood Vampires. For “Dream On,” Steven Tyler took his place behind a white grand piano, fog rolling across the stage, standing atop the instrument at one point — the exact image he’s cultivated for half a century.
An even busier second night
On November 1, the guest list grew even longer: Run-D.M.C. and Tom Morello took the stage, and Slash joined Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for a version of “Walk This Way” that spread across social media the same night. Between the members of Guns N’ Roses present in the crowd and on stage, the evening amounted to an unofficial tribute to one of the bands that shaped American rock over the past half-century.
Nothing so far suggests a full tour will follow these two shows. But for a band whose last appearance on stage ended under a cloud of medical uncertainty, seeing Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and Joey Kramer back together, even for one night, carries real weight. The Hollywood Bowl has hosted most of the biggest names in American rock over the decades; on October 29 and November 1, 2026, it hosted one of the most anticipated comebacks of the decade.
