A judge has officially ruled that Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer is not allowed to play with the band at the 62nd Grammy Awards. Kramer hasn’t been playing with Aerosmith for about a year following an injury.
69-year-old drummer Joey Kramer has been part of Aerosmith since its inception. In fact, he’s the band member responsible for coming up with the name Aerosmith. However, Kramer sued the band on the grounds of breaching his contract after his request to perform with the band at the 62nd Grammy Awards was denied. Kramer had suffered an injury roughly one year ago, forcing him to refrain from performing with Aerosmith as a result. The band collectively decided that his injury affected his ability to play, forcing them to use a replacement. However, despite his best efforts, Kramer will not have the chance after all to perform at the Grammys, despite the fact that the band will be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as being named MusicCares Person of the Year.
According to Deadline, Kramer was unsuccessful in requesting the opportunity to practice and perform with the band as an official member. In an official statement, Kramer said that this decision deprives him “the opportunity to be recognized along with” his peers. He added that the fact that neither of the two awards for which he and the band are being recognized “can ever be repeated” makes the situation that much more distressing.
In response to the situation, Aerosmith released a statement to People that expressed their side of the story. Despite their long history with Kramer, the statement explained that he “has not been emotionally and physically able to perform” for nearly a year, and even though they “encouraged him to rejoin” the band with time to prepare for their performance at the Grammys, they added that he “waited until the last moment” to accept their invitation. With so little time to prepare, the band believes that they “would be doing a disservice” to everyone involved, including the fans.
As disappointing as it might be for Kramer - as well as fans, and even the band itself - for there to be so much controversy so close to being recognized at the Grammys, behind-the-scenes drama in the music industry more or less comes with the territory. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. In fact, the band officially broke up back in 2017, but are on a sort of years-long farewell tour, so the fact that the majority of its members have remained together for as long as they have is a testament to how close they are, despite this controversy.
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Source: Deadline, People
