ANDY COMER: Dream On — it ain't Aerosmith without Steven Tyler

They’ve been on Saturday Night Live four times. They’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They even have their own video game. So why is Aerosmith falling apart?

Apparently, lead singer Steven Tyler, 61, and guitar player Joe Perry, 59, aren’t speaking to one another. Again. The two are known for their confrontations throughout the band’s nearly 40-year history.

“You guys know more about it than I do,” Perry said about the band’s feud Sunday night at the American Music Awards. “Everything is through the press.”

Rumor has it that Tyler wants to move away from Aerosmith and do a solo album, while band mates Joey Kramer, 59, and Brad Whitford, 57, have hinted that Tyler may be abusing drugs. Perry even went as far to say that the group would tour with a new lead singer, should Tyler not return to the band. “Aerosmith is positively looking for a new singer to work with,” Perry said via a Twitter post earlier this month.

Whatever the case may be, I can’t imagine Aerosmith, which some consider to be America’s greatest rock band (I disagree — The Doors and Van Halen are both better), without Steven Tyler gyrating on stage with his trademark scarf-covered microphone stand. A sans-Tyler Aerosmith would be akin to the Rolling Stones (or Strolling Bones, as I like to call them) without Mick Jagger, peanut butter without jelly or a Thursday without one of my columns. But as any music fan knows, many bands have continued — some very successfully — with significant changes to a group’s members. Other bands, however, have flopped when just one person is replaced.

AC/DC, Van Halen and Journey, for example, all faced an uncertain future when each of their lead singers quit — or died, in the case of AC/DC’s Bon Scott. Replacing someone as outrageous as Van Halen’s David Lee Roth or as talented as Journey’s Steve Perry probably seemed impossible to everyone — including the bands themselves at the time — but it worked. All three groups have continued to be successful to this very day; the volatile Roth even came back to Van Halen in 2007 for a nationwide tour.

But bands such as Black Sabbath, which replaced the “Prince of Darkness” himself, Ozzy Osbourne, in the late 1970s, have found that life without a former band mate, however annoying he or she might be, isn’t as great as they intended it to be. KISS, Smashing Pumpkins, Van Halen (with lead singer Gary Cherone), and many, many other groups can attest to the fact that changing members can harm a band’s chemistry — not to mention album sales. Aerosmith itself replaced Joe Perry in the early 1980s, much to the disappointment of fans.

If Aerosmith does stupidly decide to replace Tyler, however, who would take his place? Tyler is one of rock music’s last true living icons, and filling his shoes would be almost impossible. Perhaps American Idol winner Adam Lambert, who performed with members of Queen on an episode of the show, would be a good, youthful addition. Other singers that come to mind would be the aforementioned Steve Perry (no relation to Joe); Sammy Hagar, who, if you ask me, was superior to David Lee Roth as Van Halen’s front man; Kid Rock, who has performed with Aerosmith in the past; or even Scott Weiland, who is touring again with Stone Temple Pilots and was very successful as Velvet Revolver’s mouthpiece. An mtv.com article even suggested (jokingly, I hope) that my future wife, pop star Katy Perry, who has collaborated with Joe Perry in the past (again, no relation), could helm the band. No offense, Katy, but I just can’t picture you singing “Jaine’s Got a Gun.” Oh, and I’m sorry I forgot to call you.

Hopefully Aerosmith will come to their senses and realize that the band just isn’t complete without Steven Tyler. I’d rather see the group dissolve than try to replace Tyler, but who knows — maybe Aerosmith could still be entertaining with the likes of Hagar or Weiland, or even some unknown singer from a tribute band.

Either way, I just hope Aerosmith fans aren’t “Cryin’” too much.

Andy Comer is the slot editor and a columnist for The Monitor. Contact him at acomer@themonitor.com.