The guitarist of Aerosmith, Joe Perry, shared his thoughts on the “encouraging” and deeply emotional experience of witnessing Steven Tyler passionately perform during the creation of One More Time, the band’s recent collaborative EP with Yungblud.

This five-song collection, released last November, marked Aerosmith’s first release of new material since 2012’s Music From Another Dimension! It also represented their most significant move since the cancellation of their Peace Out farewell tour and retirement from touring in 2024 due to a serious vocal injury Tyler sustained during the initial dates of the tour.

“Working with Steven in the studio was incredible,” Perry tells UCR now. “It’s only been in the last six months that he’s really been able to sing without straining his throat. So that was very encouraging. It was an intense two or three months.”

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Joe Perry on Steven Tyler: ‘We Hadn’t Heard Him Sing Like That in Years’

Although Tyler has made brief, sporadic live appearances since retiring from touring (including Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning concert last July and a subsequent tribute to the Prince of Darkness during the MTV Video Music Awards in September), the production of One More Time was the most Perry had seen his bandmate sing in years.

“Steven sang for six hours straight, three days in a row,” he recalls. “Billie [Perry, his wife] and I were sitting on the couch at Johnny [Depp’s studio], and she had tears in her eyes because we hadn’t heard him sing like that in years, literally since the Peace Out tour was canceled.”

“I don’t even know if he could have started vocal exercises for at least a year after he got hurt,” Perry continues. “That was a real setback, and then finding out he might not be able to sing at all … so anyway, seeing him do that in the studio was absolutely amazing.”

Perry acknowledges that Aerosmith’s full-scale touring days are behind them, but he hasn’t completely lost hope for some kind of return to the stage. “I know we’ll never be able to tour again like we used to, but who knows?” he says. “There’s a lot that goes into it, but we’ll see.”

Joe Perry Discusses Aerosmith’s Remixed and Remastered Debut Album

In the meantime, Perry and his bandmates have been busy with a Legendary Edition reissue of their 1973 debut album, featuring remixed and remastered tracks along with a wealth of bonus material. With last month’s release of this new version, the sound in the band members’ heads has finally been captured on record.

“The first record just didn’t sound like how we wanted it to sound,” Perry explains. “And I’m not talking about adding overdubs or anything like that. Just tonally. We were never satisfied with how the drums sounded. They sounded kind of flat and flabby, which is not how they really sounded in the room. But we didn’t know how to say, ‘Well, let’s do it this way.’ Because we didn’t know enough about it.”

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Now, that’s changed. “When we started hearing the remixes and listening to it as an album, it was like, holy shit, this is amazing,” Perry enthuses. “The drums sounded like they should have sounded. The guitars sounded great. Hearing Steven’s vocals, I mean, it’s pretty amazing. I didn’t think it would be as impactful as it is for me.”

Which classic album will Aerosmith revisit next? “I can’t wait to do Toys in the Attic. I think that’s the next one we’re going to remix,” Perry shares. “It was definitely closer to what we wanted it to sound like — especially with the songs — but actually sonically, I think it was closer. However, there are aspects we’ll certainly correct when we get in there.”