Steven Tyler on Hawaii's 'Steven Tyler Act': 'Now I Can Walk Around Naked'

Steven Tyler can feel more comfortable at his favorite vacation spot now that Hawaii has passed a law known as the "Steven Tyler Act." The measure gives stars protection from paparazzi and allows them to sue over intrusive photos or recordings taken of them in the state. The Aerosmith singer had originally proposed the bill to Senator Kalani English after unwanted images of him and his family hanging in Maui were published last December.

100 Greatest Artists: Aerosmith

"[In Hawaii], they are allowed in with their lenses and they get the most intimate of shots, which is what they are really looking for to make money. Not on my watch!" Tyler told Billboard. The former American Idol judge noted his oceanside home "doesn't even have windows" and that photographers also pester his children. "They chase my kids and get in the way of traffic . . . We almost got in an accident and so before it happens, you want to do something about it. They're just looking for a taste of blood. They're not gonna get it."

Twenty-three of Hawaii's 25 Senate members voted in favor of the bill, according to the Associated Press, and the measure will now go to the House for consideration. "Now at least Joe [Perry] and I can go to Maui and walk around naked in the back lawn and write some crazy songs," Tyler joked.

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Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Slash and Billy Idol Rock for Children’s Charity

Steven Tyler and Joey Perry of Aerosmith perform in West Hollywood.

A West Hollywood clothing store on a Sunday afternoon might not seem very rock & roll. But with Alice Cooper and Eddie Van Halen chatting in a corner, Billy Idol mugging for photos while his son DJ'd, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry cranking up Aerosmith's greatest hits, John Varvatos' WeHo storefront was arguably the most rocking spot in America this past weekend.

The occasion was Varvatos' 10th annual benefit for Stuart House, a facility to help children who have been sexually abused. With past performances including Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews, Cooper, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and more, the event has become a tradition for rockers.

"We see all of our old friends. It's almost like the old love-ins," Cooper told Rolling Stone. "I just saw Eddie – first time I've seen him in 15 years. He looks great."

The curator of this little piece of rock history was designer Varvatos, who, in addition to being a fashion entrepreneur, has turned his diehard fandom into relationships with Matthews, Cornell, Perry Farrell and more. "John's cool, so he attracts cool," Tyler told Rolling Stone.

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Aerosmith, 'Rocks'

But the real impetus for Tyler and Perry to perform an hour-long set in the middle of the afternoon for celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (who were co-hosts for the event) was the Stuart House.

"It's about John's passion for children and this endeavor he's doing," said Tyler. "It's about the swept-under-the-rug thing with kids where they're so young, they don't know what's going on, they've been abused sexually and they think it's their fault, which is a travesty beyond travesties," he said.

Perry seconded his bandmate's testimony. "We have kids. We're parents ourselves," he said. "We read about kids that don't have the good fortune, and John's the kind of guy that when he hears about that stuff, he gets out there and does whatever he can to help them."

Tyler and Perry were "an immediate yes," said Varvatos, and they took the gig seriously. The night before, during dinner, Tyler told him, "We are going to blow your face off."

That they did, leading a makeshift supporting band through such Aerosmith classics as "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and their cover of the Beatles' "Come Together." For the finale Tyler said, "Where is that man? Somebody said Slash was in the audience." Before the guitarist could make his way to the stage, Tyler called out the crowd for being noisy. "As you can tell, this is a fucking L.A. audience," he yelled. "So fucking quiet!"

The audience responded to Tyler's challenge, matching the band's ferocity as Slash joined Tyler, Perry and friends for a raucous rendition of "Mama Kin." Just before walking off the stage out to Melrose Avenue, Tyler made sure to remind everyone caught up in the moment why they were there in the first place. "Let's hear it for the kids," he said. "Let me hear those wallets shake."

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Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Slash and Billy Idol Rock for Children’s Charity

Steven Tyler and Joey Perry of Aerosmith perform in West Hollywood.

A West Hollywood clothing store on a Sunday afternoon might not seem very rock & roll. But with Alice Cooper and Eddie Van Halen chatting in a corner, Billy Idol mugging for photos while his son DJ'd, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry cranking up Aerosmith's greatest hits, John Varvatos' WeHo storefront was arguably the most rocking spot in America this past weekend.

The occasion was Varvatos' 10th annual benefit for Stuart House, a facility to help children who have been sexually abused. With past performances including Chris Cornell, Dave Matthews, Cooper, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and more, the event has become a tradition for rockers.

"We see all of our old friends. It's almost like the old love-ins," Cooper told Rolling Stone. "I just saw Eddie – first time I've seen him in 15 years. He looks great."

The curator of this little piece of rock history was designer Varvatos, who, in addition to being a fashion entrepreneur, has turned his diehard fandom into relationships with Matthews, Cornell, Perry Farrell and more. "John's cool, so he attracts cool," Tyler told Rolling Stone.

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Aerosmith, 'Rocks'

But the real impetus for Tyler and Perry to perform an hour-long set in the middle of the afternoon for celebrities like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (who were co-hosts for the event) was the Stuart House.

"It's about John's passion for children and this endeavor he's doing," said Tyler. "It's about the swept-under-the-rug thing with kids where they're so young, they don't know what's going on, they've been abused sexually and they think it's their fault, which is a travesty beyond travesties," he said.

Perry seconded his bandmate's testimony. "We have kids. We're parents ourselves," he said. "We read about kids that don't have the good fortune, and John's the kind of guy that when he hears about that stuff, he gets out there and does whatever he can to help them."

Tyler and Perry were "an immediate yes," said Varvatos, and they took the gig seriously. The night before, during dinner, Tyler told him, "We are going to blow your face off."

That they did, leading a makeshift supporting band through such Aerosmith classics as "Sweet Emotion," "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and their cover of the Beatles' "Come Together." For the finale Tyler said, "Where is that man? Somebody said Slash was in the audience." Before the guitarist could make his way to the stage, Tyler called out the crowd for being noisy. "As you can tell, this is a fucking L.A. audience," he yelled. "So fucking quiet!"

The audience responded to Tyler's challenge, matching the band's ferocity as Slash joined Tyler, Perry and friends for a raucous rendition of "Mama Kin." Just before walking off the stage out to Melrose Avenue, Tyler made sure to remind everyone caught up in the moment why they were there in the first place. "Let's hear it for the kids," he said. "Let me hear those wallets shake."

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'American Idol' Recap: Auditions Are a Drag for Steven Tyler

'American Idol' Recap: Auditions Are a Drag for Steven TylerAerosmith dude looks like a lady when he shows up in Oklahoma $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

Steven Tyler in drag was worth sitting through an otherwise snooze-worthy series of auditions in Oklahoma. The former American Idol judge and Aerosmith lead singer surprised his successors by showing up in full drag, from heels to hose to blonde wig and perfectly applied blush, just to say hi. He wouldn't sing, not even a single bar of "Dude Looks Like a Lady," but he did flash the panel on his way out. I miss him.

While Steven brought the laughs, Kayden Stephenson brought the inspiration. Kayden is a cherubic-faced Bieber-ish 16-year-old who breezily talked about his shortened life expectancy and the terminal illness (cystic fibrosis) that will probably kill him by the age of 35. He simply shrugged after mentioning that he doesn't have as long to live as other people and then started to sing in an endearingly sweet voice. After he earned his golden ticket, Ryan asked, "Where are you getting this confidence from?" Kayden smiled, "I guess I was born with it. I'm lucky." He could win this whole thing, just because no one in America could vote him off. 

'American Idol': Rolling Stone's Complete Coverage

Kayden and 44 others were handed tickets to Hollywood during the final round of Idol auditions Here are the highlights and lowlights: 

When the Idol bus rolled through Joplin, Missouri, they picked up Karl Skinner. Karl could be an amazing singer, but no one would notice because his dancing is so horrifying. He told the judges he wanted "to be incomparable" and they agreed that he achieved that and earned a golden ticket to boot. 

Nate Tao's father escorted him to the auditions, even though his parents will never hear him sing, because they are deaf. The unassuming and relaxed ASL teacher delivered a breezy version of Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" that wooed the judges and earned him four yeses. Randy Jackson couldn't help but comment on the clean-cut guy's image, quipping, "It looks like you're going to do my taxes." If neither singing nor teaching works out, Nate is undoubtedly thrilled he can fall back no a career as a singing accountant. 

Halie Hilburn clearly doesn't have a trusted adult in her life to tell her that she really shouldn't audition for Idol with her ventriloquist dummy in tow. No one to tell her that singing a duet with a yodeling bear is a really, really bad choice. Thank God for the Idol judges, who had no qualms telling her to ditch the dummy and just sing. She earned a ticket to Hollywood, but the dummy did not. 

Zoanette Johnson lost a bet with her family, that if President Obama won re-election she would sing the national anthem as her audition song. She promised Ryan, though, that it would be a version "with the flavor." She should have lip synced over Beyoncé's vocal track instead of delivering a bewildering performance that included a Mariah-esque aria and a booty-shaking dance.  The seemingly slap-happy judges put her through to Hollywood so she could be kicked out later. 

God told Anastacia Freeman to audition for American Idol. Unfortunately, God did not imbue her with singing talent. So much so that Anastacia stopped her performance of "Unbreak My Heart" to ask the judges if they were laughing at her. They lied. Out in the parking lot, Anastacia denounced Nicki Minaj as a devil worshipper and swore she would never listen to another Mariah Carey album again. 

Previously: Nicki Minaj Ignores Basic Fire Safety

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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on 'What Could Have Been Love' - Track-by-Track Premiere

Aerosmith, 'Music from Another Dimension!'

Click to listen to Aerosmith's 'What Could Have Been Love'

RollingStone.com will be premiering Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension! album, one track at a time, in the weeks leading up to the November 6th release.

"What Could Have Been Love" is the kind of wounded power ballad that dominated Aerosmith's run of hits in the Nineties, much to the irritation of some longtime fans of the band's early, hardest-rocking work. But that side of the group has been part of their repertoire all the way back to the Seventies, at least since "You See Me Crying" on 1975's Toys in the Attic.

The new song, another collaboration with frequent co-writer Marti Frederiksen, opens with a shimmering guitar melody and Steven Tyler singing, "I wake up and wonder/ how everything went wrong/ Am I the one to blame?" It's accompanied by the second video released from Music From Another Dimension!, which shows Tyler in a bar wailing miserably about a failed relationship while the rest of the band happily shoots pool, as the song builds to a teary crescendo.

"Marti and I had both been through divorce: Do you ever have feelings about that? Do you ever think about that?" says Tyler. "It started from there: 'What could have been love, it should have been the only thing that was ever meant to be, couldn't see what was right in front of me.' So many people are getting divorced now. When you've got kids, you still love the mother a little bit. Anyone worth their soul will admit it."

100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Aerosmith

Also getting a co-writing credit on the song is the band's keyboard player, Russ Irwin, who had a Top 40 hit as a solo artist in 1991 with the whispery romantic ballad "My Heart Belongs to You." Both Irwin and Frederiksen sing backup vocals on "What Could Have Been Love."

"It just reared its beautiful little head a couple of years ago," Tyler says of the composition. "It's a magical tune."

Album producer Jack Douglas gets a co-producer credit, but the song falls squarely in the soaring pop comfort zone of Frederickson, who produced the track with Tyler. "Jack is the overlord," says bassist Tom Hamilton of the album sessions. "He really brought this thing into the home port. But Marti had a big influence, just setting a good example creatively."

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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on 'What Could Have Been Love' - Track-by-Track Premiere

Aerosmith, 'Music from Another Dimension!'

Click to listen to Aerosmith's 'What Could Have Been Love'

RollingStone.com will be premiering Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension! album, one track at a time, in the weeks leading up to the November 6th release.

"What Could Have Been Love" is the kind of wounded power ballad that dominated Aerosmith's run of hits in the Nineties, much to the irritation of some longtime fans of the band's early, hardest-rocking work. But that side of the group has been part of their repertoire all the way back to the Seventies, at least since "You See Me Crying" on 1975's Toys in the Attic.

The new song, another collaboration with frequent co-writer Marti Frederiksen, opens with a shimmering guitar melody and Steven Tyler singing, "I wake up and wonder/ how everything went wrong/ Am I the one to blame?" It's accompanied by the second video released from Music From Another Dimension!, which shows Tyler in a bar wailing miserably about a failed relationship while the rest of the band happily shoots pool, as the song builds to a teary crescendo.

"Marti and I had both been through divorce: Do you ever have feelings about that? Do you ever think about that?" says Tyler. "It started from there: 'What could have been love, it should have been the only thing that was ever meant to be, couldn't see what was right in front of me.' So many people are getting divorced now. When you've got kids, you still love the mother a little bit. Anyone worth their soul will admit it."

100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Aerosmith

Also getting a co-writing credit on the song is the band's keyboard player, Russ Irwin, who had a Top 40 hit as a solo artist in 1991 with the whispery romantic ballad "My Heart Belongs to You." Both Irwin and Frederiksen sing backup vocals on "What Could Have Been Love."

"It just reared its beautiful little head a couple of years ago," Tyler says of the composition. "It's a magical tune."

Album producer Jack Douglas gets a co-producer credit, but the song falls squarely in the soaring pop comfort zone of Frederickson, who produced the track with Tyler. "Jack is the overlord," says bassist Tom Hamilton of the album sessions. "He really brought this thing into the home port. But Marti had a big influence, just setting a good example creatively."

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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on 'Legendary Child' - Track-by-Track Premiere

Aerosmith, 'Music from Another Dimension!'

Click to listen to Aerosmith's 'Legendary Child'

RollingStone.com will be premiering Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension! album, one track at a time, in the weeks leading up to the November 6th release.

The first sign that Aerosmith were back as a creative force and writing new material came during this year's American Idol finale in May, where singer Steven Tyler signed off as a judge by joining the band to perform "Legendary Child," their first new song in eight years. With the big rock guitars of Joe Perry and Brad Whitford behind him, Tyler barked and wailed just like the old days, and even quoted from 1975's "Walk This Way," remembering when "I took a chance at a high school dance . . . " The lyrics go on to describe the life since, and "That same show/ 40 years ago /is being televised tonight."

The song was officially released in July as the first single from Music From Another Dimension!, accompanied by a high-concept music video of a girl carrying a coffin-shaped package being chased on roller skates. Aerosmith have been playing it on the road ever since. But "Legendary Child" has another, more profound meaning for the band – completing it was the first sign that their reunion in the studio was finally going to work out this time.

"Joe put the lead lick down. It was, 'Oh my God, we're back,'" Tyler says now. "It was so incredibly true at that moment to me that the band was back in the severest of ways. I was overjoyed."

100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Aerosmith

Aerosmith tried repeatedly to reconvene over the last several years, but were derailed every time by tension, breakups, tour-ending injuries, American Idol and more. Things already looked a lot different by last summer as the band began creating songs with producer Jack Douglas. Basic tracks were recorded, and soon the veteran rock act was invited to submit a song for the soundtrack to the upcoming action film G.I. Joe: Retaliation, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Bruce Willis.

The instrumental track for "Legendary Child" was submitted, though Perry insists a song is never really a song until vocals and all other parts are finished: "Until then they're just riffs." The filmmakers liked what they heard but needed to hear Tyler's vocals before committing. It was just the push the singer needed.

"So that weekend, Steven said, 'I gotta throw down,'" Perry recalls. "He went in and really sharpened the pencils and laid down a vocal. That was the first complete song. It had the vocals, the lyrics, the band track. That was the point where it was like, 'We got one.' We know we can do it now."

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Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on 'Beautiful' - Track-by-Track Premiere

Aerosmith, 'Music from Another Dimension!'

Click to listen to Aerosmith's 'Beautiful'

RollingStone.com will be premiering Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension! album, one track at a time, in the weeks leading up to the November 6th release.

"Beautiful" unfolds like a collision of eras and Aerosmiths, opening with a grind of guitars as brutal as 1973's "Train Kept A-Rollin'" and a grunting, barking rap from Steven Tyler, before shifting into a soaring melodic chorus closer to the sweeping radio hits they'd perfected by the early Nineties. It was co-written and co-produced by Marti Frederiksen, a close collaborator since Aerosmith re-emerged as a major act in the MTV era.

"He can take a fart and make it a chorus," Tyler says of Frederiksen's skill at the Pro Tools monitor. And bassist Tom Hamilton calls him a challenging creative partner, "because the guy thinks and works so fast. He goes for it."

"Beautiful" emerged during 10 days of songwriting sessions at Frederiksen's home studio in Los Angeles, where guitarist Brad Whitford came up with the song's foundation in an unusual chord pattern. "They were like jazz changes. It was odd," says Whitford, and Frederiksen suggested they model the chorus after Slash's melody line in Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine."

After basic tracks were completed, Tyler didn't add lyrics for six months. "He had no idea what he was going to do lyrically or vocally, but it was such an interesting piece of music," Whitford says. "Every time we'd put it on, it was just awesome. It could have been an instrumental."

Tyler eventually scatted melody ideas over the track and began to see the song in cosmic terms. "My thought was that would be a future song – like something they'd listen to on the way to Mars," Tyler says. "What's rock & roll going to be like in 20 years from now when they're doing that?"

Tyler's daughter Mia joined him on harmony vocals on the big vocal melody, a section the singer says was difficult to nail down. "That was the hardest," he says. "I stayed up night after night with that one, and finally when I sang, 'Beautiful, we're free again, we're out of here . . . ,' it's like when you have an orgasm – you're free. It just worked."

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Steven Tyler's 'Idol' Departure Influenced Jennifer Lopez's Own Exit

Jennifer Lopez speaks with Steven Tyler on 'American Idol.'

After announcing her departure from the American Idol judges' table last week, Jennifer Lopez revealed in an interview with ABC News that her exit was partly influenced by the decision of fellow judge and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler to leave the singing competition as well.

"We had magic," Lopez said during the interview. "I don't know, with him gone, it might be a different formula."

In a statement announcing his departure, Tyler said "it's time for me to let go of my mistress, American Idol, before she boils my rabbit" and return to his "first love," Aerosmith. The band is currently out on tour and prepping for the release of their new album, Music From Another Dimension.

Both Lopez and Tyler joined Idol in 2011, and both decided to call it a day after just two seasons. This currently leaves Randy Jackson – who has worked on the show since it started in 2002 – as the sole Idol judge, though it's been rumored he may be looking to become more of a mentor on the show rather than a judge.

With spaces at the judges' table to be filled, Lopez offered her own suggestions: "I think like Bono or Bon Jovi or Mick Jagger," she said. "You know me, I think big."

Lopez also revealed that she did leave open the opportunity to return to the show in the future, perhaps for a some sort of collaboration.

"I love them and they love me, and it’s hard when I feel like I should move on," she said. "I don’t know that it’s even done yet. I don’t know. I feel like I’m moving on."

Lopez's decision to leave Idol came last Friday when the singer called into host Ryan Seacrest's radio show to discuss her future on the show.

"Something had to give, and that's, I think, where I am right now," Lopez told Seacrest. "I honestly feel that the time has come, that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I've put kind of on hold."

Always busy, Lopez is currently on tour with Enrique Iglesias and lent her voice to the animated flick Ice Age: Continental Drift, which just opened.

"It got me back in touch with who I was, watching the contestants and singers,” Lopez recalled of Idol during her ABC interview. "That’s why it’s hard to walk away."

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Steven Van Zandt May Miss Some E Street Band Concerts to Film 'Lilyhammer'

Steve Van Zandt performs in New Orleans.

E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt may be forced to miss some upcoming gigs to film a second season of his television show, Lilyhammer. "I made commitments before the tour even existed," Van Zandt tells Rolling Stone. "We're still trying to figure it all out, and we won't know for another couple of months. Bruce and [manager] Jon Landau are very, very understanding about this and very supportive of my TV career. They're gonna try and bend things around as much as they can. And then, if they can't, if I gotta miss a few things, I'll miss a few things. We're gonna try not to, though." 

Lilyhammer – a Norwegian show about a mobster forced to move to Norway – premiered in Europe in January of 2012. (It became available in America via Netflix the following month.) "It's been a huge, huge success in terms of a European production," Van Zandt says. "It's the first European production of any kind that's ever been aired on American television intact, without being remade. I guess there's been a few from England, like The Avengers or something, though – but it's been amazing to see how big a deal this has become."

The only problem for Van Zandt is that the series premiered months before Springsteen began a long tour with the E Street Band. When Van Zandt was on The Sopranos, the show reduced the onscreen presence of his character, Silvio Dante, during past E Street Band tours – but Lilyhammer stars Van Zandt, eliminating that option. 

Van Zandt quit the E Street Band before their 1984 Born in the USA tour and was replaced by Nils Lofgren, who is still with the band and would likely have little trouble carrying the extra weight if need be. 

The last Springsteen show formally on the books right now is on September 22nd in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but dates are already beginning to surface for another American leg this fall – and it may even keep going through 2013. "All that stuff is up in the air right now," says Van Zandt. "Until that gets decided and gets announced we can't really figure out what to do." Does Van Zandt hope the tour will continue in 2013? "Personally, I hope so," he says. "I'd like to see it go forever."

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Steven Tyler on Aerosmith's New Album: 'It's the music that's keeping us alive'

Aerosmith are still going strong after 40 years of rock & roll drama – and now that frontman Steven Tyler has bid farewell to American Idol, he's putting all his energy toward their new album, Music From Another Dimension (due out in November). "It's the music that's keeping us alive," Tyler says. "I've seen a thousand bands go down the drain because they can't stop giving each other the finger and holding resentments," Tyler says. "Now I just look at [guitarist] Joe Perry and say, 'Fuck you about your 'fuck you!'"

Tyler called Rolling Stone's Austin Scaggs in between stops on Aerosmith's Global Warming Tour, which runs through August 12th in Bristow, Virginia. For even more Tyler, check out the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands later this week.

You've been playing a new song called "Oh Yeah" on this tour. Tell me about it.
It's a song Joe brought to the table, and it's a fucking classic. He brought it in at the last minute – a couple months ago – so Joe's definitely the employee of the month on the new album. It's got a great rock feel to it, and it works great at the beginning of the show. It's like, "Check this shit out. Here we are. We're back!"

I read that the license plate on your Mercedes says "OH YEAH".
Yeah! So I was surprised when Joe came in with that. But it really sums up what we do for a living. We play songs that make people feel good, that make people think, "Oh, yeah!"

Did everybody bring new songs to the table?
Yeah! The band has really come to the table, and I'm so fucking proud of that. Joe Perry brought astounding stuff. [Drummer] Joey Kramer wrote one. [Guitarist] Brad Whitford plays some fantastic leads. [Bassist] Tom Hamilton wrote a couple of great songs that we put on the album, where in the past his songs have been shunned.

Which is crazy, because he wrote the bass riff to "Sweet Emotion."
That was a magic moment. We were in an apartment in Boston and he just started playing that line and I said "Hold on!" and I just started singing "sweet emotion." The lyric just popped out and it was so cool. The same thing happened with "Janie's Got A Gun." I didn't know who Janie was or why she had a gun, but it was magic.

Whose idea was it to start "Sweet Emotion" with the chorus?
I used to arrange the band's licks and riffs. Starting with the chorus was way different than any other band's ever done, but we did it because it was so much fun singing that "sweet emotion" part.

So is the new album full of rockers?
No. I wrote a song called "Beautiful," and it was looked upon by the other guys as not Aerosmith. It's off the beaten path. But anything that I question these days, I just go, "Fuck it, let's do it." And there's another full-bodied melody song called "It Could Have Been Love." I can't get away from it. My dad went to Juilliard and played a Steinway, and when you've been given the gift of music, you've got to play to your muse. Otherwise it's gonna bite you in the ass. [Laughs]

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Steven Van Zandt May Miss Some E Street Band Concerts to Film 'Lilyhammer'

Steve Van Zandt performs in New Orleans.

E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt may be forced to miss some upcoming gigs to film a second season of his television show, Lilyhammer. "I made commitments before the tour even existed," Van Zandt tells Rolling Stone. "We're still trying to figure it all out, and we won't know for another couple of months. Bruce and [manager] Jon Landau are very, very understanding about this and very supportive of my TV career. They're gonna try and bend things around as much as they can. And then, if they can't, if I gotta miss a few things, I'll miss a few things. We're gonna try not to, though." 

Lilyhammer – a Norwegian show about a mobster forced to move to Norway – premiered in Europe in January of 2012. (It became available in America via Netflix the following month.) "It's been a huge, huge success in terms of a European production," Van Zandt says. "It's the first European production of any kind that's ever been aired on American television intact, without being remade. I guess there's been a few from England, like The Avengers or something, though – but it's been amazing to see how big a deal this has become."

The only problem for Van Zandt is that the series premiered months before Springsteen began a long tour with the E Street Band. When Van Zandt was on The Sopranos, the show reduced the onscreen presence of his character, Silvio Dante, during past E Street Band tours – but Lilyhammer stars Van Zandt, eliminating that option. 

Van Zandt quit the E Street Band before their 1984 Born in the USA tour and was replaced by Nils Lofgren, who is still with the band and would likely have little trouble carrying the extra weight if need be. 

The last Springsteen show formally on the books right now is on September 22nd in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but dates are already beginning to surface for another American leg this fall – and it may even keep going through 2013. "All that stuff is up in the air right now," says Van Zandt. "Until that gets decided and gets announced we can't really figure out what to do." Does Van Zandt hope the tour will continue in 2013? "Personally, I hope so," he says. "I'd like to see it go forever."

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Steven Tyler on Aerosmith's New Album: 'It's the music that's keeping us alive'

Aerosmith are still going strong after 40 years of rock & roll drama – and now that frontman Steven Tyler has bid farewell to American Idol, he's putting all his energy toward their new album, Music From Another Dimension (due out in November). "It's the music that's keeping us alive," Tyler says. "I've seen a thousand bands go down the drain because they can't stop giving each other the finger and holding resentments," Tyler says. "Now I just look at [guitarist] Joe Perry and say, 'Fuck you about your 'fuck you!'"

Tyler called Rolling Stone's Austin Scaggs in between stops on Aerosmith's Global Warming Tour, which runs through August 12th in Bristow, Virginia. For even more Tyler, check out the latest issue of Rolling Stone, on stands later this week.

You've been playing a new song called "Oh Yeah" on this tour. Tell me about it.
It's a song Joe brought to the table, and it's a fucking classic. He brought it in at the last minute – a couple months ago – so Joe's definitely the employee of the month on the new album. It's got a great rock feel to it, and it works great at the beginning of the show. It's like, "Check this shit out. Here we are. We're back!"

I read that the license plate on your Mercedes says "OH YEAH".
Yeah! So I was surprised when Joe came in with that. But it really sums up what we do for a living. We play songs that make people feel good, that make people think, "Oh, yeah!"

Did everybody bring new songs to the table?
Yeah! The band has really come to the table, and I'm so fucking proud of that. Joe Perry brought astounding stuff. [Drummer] Joey Kramer wrote one. [Guitarist] Brad Whitford plays some fantastic leads. [Bassist] Tom Hamilton wrote a couple of great songs that we put on the album, where in the past his songs have been shunned.

Which is crazy, because he wrote the bass riff to "Sweet Emotion."
That was a magic moment. We were in an apartment in Boston and he just started playing that line and I said "Hold on!" and I just started singing "sweet emotion." The lyric just popped out and it was so cool. The same thing happened with "Janie's Got A Gun." I didn't know who Janie was or why she had a gun, but it was magic.

Whose idea was it to start "Sweet Emotion" with the chorus?
I used to arrange the band's licks and riffs. Starting with the chorus was way different than any other band's ever done, but we did it because it was so much fun singing that "sweet emotion" part.

So is the new album full of rockers?
No. I wrote a song called "Beautiful," and it was looked upon by the other guys as not Aerosmith. It's off the beaten path. But anything that I question these days, I just go, "Fuck it, let's do it." And there's another full-bodied melody song called "It Could Have Been Love." I can't get away from it. My dad went to Juilliard and played a Steinway, and when you've been given the gift of music, you've got to play to your muse. Otherwise it's gonna bite you in the ass. [Laughs]

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Steven Tyler's 'Idol' Departure Influenced Jennifer Lopez's Own Exit

Jennifer Lopez speaks with Steven Tyler on 'American Idol.'

After announcing her departure from the American Idol judges' table last week, Jennifer Lopez revealed in an interview with ABC News that her exit was partly influenced by the decision of fellow judge and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler to leave the singing competition as well.

"We had magic," Lopez said during the interview. "I don't know, with him gone, it might be a different formula."

In a statement announcing his departure, Tyler said "it's time for me to let go of my mistress, American Idol, before she boils my rabbit" and return to his "first love," Aerosmith. The band is currently out on tour and prepping for the release of their new album, Music From Another Dimension.

Both Lopez and Tyler joined Idol in 2011, and both decided to call it a day after just two seasons. This currently leaves Randy Jackson – who has worked on the show since it started in 2002 – as the sole Idol judge, though it's been rumored he may be looking to become more of a mentor on the show rather than a judge.

With spaces at the judges' table to be filled, Lopez offered her own suggestions: "I think like Bono or Bon Jovi or Mick Jagger," she said. "You know me, I think big."

Lopez also revealed that she did leave open the opportunity to return to the show in the future, perhaps for a some sort of collaboration.

"I love them and they love me, and it’s hard when I feel like I should move on," she said. "I don’t know that it’s even done yet. I don’t know. I feel like I’m moving on."

Lopez's decision to leave Idol came last Friday when the singer called into host Ryan Seacrest's radio show to discuss her future on the show.

"Something had to give, and that's, I think, where I am right now," Lopez told Seacrest. "I honestly feel that the time has come, that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I've put kind of on hold."

Always busy, Lopez is currently on tour with Enrique Iglesias and lent her voice to the animated flick Ice Age: Continental Drift, which just opened.

"It got me back in touch with who I was, watching the contestants and singers,” Lopez recalled of Idol during her ABC interview. "That’s why it’s hard to walk away."

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Steven Tyler Leaving 'American Idol'

Steven Tyler has decided to leave his role as a judge on American Idol after just two years, the Aerosmith frontman said today.

"After some long, hard thoughts, I've decided it's time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit," Tyler said in a statement. "I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I'm back – but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I'm kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass – the ultimate in auditory takeover.

"Idol was over the top fun, and I loved every minute of it," Tyler added. "Now it's time to bring rock back."

Tyler's decision comes in the middle of Aerosmith's current Global Warming Tour with openers Cheap Trick. The North American trek finds them gearing up for the planned November 6th release of Music From Another Dimension, the band's first studio album since 2004. The group debuted the record's first single, "Legendary Child," during Idol's season finale this year.

"He's been a terrific judge, a true friend and great mentor to everyone involved with the show, and we know he'll continue to be a huge inspiration to Idol hopefuls for years to come," said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment at Fox. "We are very sad that Steven has chosen to focus more on his music, but we always knew when we hired a rock & roll legend, he would go back to the music." 

Added Simon Fuller, the show's co-creator and executive producer, "Steven Tyler is a real 'Idol,' a rock legend. If you had told me 10 years ago he would be a judge on American Idol, I would have thought it impossible. The fact that this became a reality and we had the pleasure of him gracing our stage for two seasons makes me very proud. I completely understand his desire to get back to his life as the singer in America's greatest-ever rock band."

Tyler's announcement isn't the only thing to signal a shakeup at the Idol judges' table: Recently Jennifer Lopez told Today, "I am thinking that maybe it's time for me to go and do other things that I really love to do, like films. Right now I'm on tour and performing."

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Steven Tyler Leaving 'American Idol'

Steven Tyler has decided to leave his role as a judge on American Idol after just two years, the Aerosmith frontman said today.

"After some long, hard thoughts, I've decided it's time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit," Tyler said in a statement. "I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I'm back – but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I'm kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass – the ultimate in auditory takeover.

"Idol was over the top fun, and I loved every minute of it," Tyler added. "Now it's time to bring rock back."

Tyler's decision comes in the middle of Aerosmith's current Global Warming Tour with openers Cheap Trick. The North American trek finds them gearing up for the planned November 6th release of Music From Another Dimension, the band's first studio album since 2004. The group debuted the record's first single, "Legendary Child," during Idol's season finale this year.

"He's been a terrific judge, a true friend and great mentor to everyone involved with the show, and we know he'll continue to be a huge inspiration to Idol hopefuls for years to come," said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment at Fox. "We are very sad that Steven has chosen to focus more on his music, but we always knew when we hired a rock & roll legend, he would go back to the music." 

Added Simon Fuller, the show's co-creator and executive producer, "Steven Tyler is a real 'Idol,' a rock legend. If you had told me 10 years ago he would be a judge on American Idol, I would have thought it impossible. The fact that this became a reality and we had the pleasure of him gracing our stage for two seasons makes me very proud. I completely understand his desire to get back to his life as the singer in America's greatest-ever rock band."

Tyler's announcement isn't the only thing to signal a shakeup at the Idol judges' table: Recently Jennifer Lopez told Today, "I am thinking that maybe it's time for me to go and do other things that I really love to do, like films. Right now I'm on tour and performing."

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With Steven Tyler Leaving, What's Next for 'American Idol'?

Days before he announced that he would be stepping down from his post as a judge on American Idol, Steven Tyler was guarded about his future on the hit reality-singing competition. "I don't know," the Aerosmith frontman told Rolling Stone when he was asked whether he'd be returning for a third season. "It's TV, man. Even in a band, you can get replaced."

The 64-year-old Tyler, whose longtime band recently hit the road for their Global Warming Tour and will release Music From Another Dimension, their first album in eight years, in November, did admit in his statement on Thursday that it was far from an easy decision to leave the Idol gig. "After some long, hard thoughts, I've decided it's time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit," he said. "I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I'm back – but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I'm kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass – the ultimate in auditory takeover."

Tyler's decision comes at a rather curious time: just hours before he issued his statement, co-judge Jennifer Lopez told Today's Natalie Morales that while she had yet to officially make up her mind, she was leaning towards leaving the show as well. "I am thinking that maybe it’s time for me to go and do other things that I really love to do, like films," she explained.

Fans of Idol should hardly be surprised at the news of one or potentially two vacancies on the judging panel this off-season. Aside from mainstay Randy Jackson (the only remaining original judge), the Idol judging gig has been something of a revolving door in recent years. In 2009 Paula Abdul departed after eight seasons; iconic judge Simon Cowell left a year later to launch his own talent competition, The X-Factor; and Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi each joined in on the fun for one and two seasons respectively.

So what does this all mean for the future of American Idol? Well, one thing is for sure – the show will go on. Ryan Seacrest, who has hosted the show for all of its 11 seasons, signed on in April for two more years at an estimated annual salary of $15 million, and we'd be hard pressed to believe Jackson is going anywhere anytime soon.

But the question remains as to who will replace Tyler, and potentially Lopez, when Idol kicks off its twelfth season in early 2013. One potential suitor appears to be season eight runner-up Adam Lambert. The singer expressed interest in the position during a recent U.K. radio show interview. "Listen, if – and I say 'if' with a capital I-F – if they were to approach me and if they were to say, 'We want you to be a judge on the show,' I would love that. I would jump at the chance," Lambert told Capital FM. 

While there are no other clues as to who will be the next Idol judge(s), if the judge-related drama of years past has taught us anything, it's to expect the unexpected. Stay tuned as this sure-to-be soap opera plays out in the coming months. 

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With Steven Tyler Leaving, What's Next for 'American Idol'?

Days before he announced that he would be stepping down from his post as a judge on American Idol, Steven Tyler was guarded about his future on the hit reality-singing competition. "I don't know," the Aerosmith frontman told Rolling Stone when he was asked whether he'd be returning for a third season. "It's TV, man. Even in a band, you can get replaced."

The 64-year-old Tyler, whose longtime band recently hit the road for their Global Warming Tour and will release Music From Another Dimension, their first album in eight years, in November, did admit in his statement on Thursday that it was far from an easy decision to leave the Idol gig. "After some long, hard thoughts, I've decided it's time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit," he said. "I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I'm back – but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I'm kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass – the ultimate in auditory takeover."

Tyler's decision comes at a rather curious time: just hours before he issued his statement, co-judge Jennifer Lopez told Today's Natalie Morales that while she had yet to officially make up her mind, she was leaning towards leaving the show as well. "I am thinking that maybe it’s time for me to go and do other things that I really love to do, like films," she explained.

Fans of Idol should hardly be surprised at the news of one or potentially two vacancies on the judging panel this off-season. Aside from mainstay Randy Jackson (the only remaining original judge), the Idol judging gig has been something of a revolving door in recent years. In 2009 Paula Abdul departed after eight seasons; iconic judge Simon Cowell left a year later to launch his own talent competition, The X-Factor; and Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi each joined in on the fun for one and two seasons respectively.

So what does this all mean for the future of American Idol? Well, one thing is for sure – the show will go on. Ryan Seacrest, who has hosted the show for all of its 11 seasons, signed on in April for two more years at an estimated annual salary of $15 million, and we'd be hard pressed to believe Jackson is going anywhere anytime soon.

But the question remains as to who will replace Tyler, and potentially Lopez, when Idol kicks off its twelfth season in early 2013. One potential suitor appears to be season eight runner-up Adam Lambert. The singer expressed interest in the position during a recent U.K. radio show interview. "Listen, if – and I say 'if' with a capital I-F – if they were to approach me and if they were to say, 'We want you to be a judge on the show,' I would love that. I would jump at the chance," Lambert told Capital FM. 

While there are no other clues as to who will be the next Idol judge(s), if the judge-related drama of years past has taught us anything, it's to expect the unexpected. Stay tuned as this sure-to-be soap opera plays out in the coming months. 

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Exclusive: Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren Open Up About the New E Street Band

Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

The past month has been a time of frenzied activity for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They taped two TV appearances, played special gigs at the Apollo Theater and SXSW, and launched a world tour in support of Springsteen's new LP, Wrecking Ball. Late last week, Rolling Stone chatted separately with E Street Band guitarists Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren about the new E Street Band and how they're carrying on after the loss of Clarence Clemons.

You guys almost always do rehearsal shows before launching a big tour. Why didn't those happen this time?
Nils: Previously, the rehearsal shows were kind of a last-minute thing. I think probably what happened is that we were putting our own show together, which inevitably heads towards rehearsal shows. But because of the new record, we made commitments. We did the Grammys, two nights on Jimmy Fallon and the Apollo Show. Next on the horizon was the SXSW show. All of a sudden it was like, "Gosh, we have five different shows to prepare." Bruce always takes the time to slant the shows to the occasion, and we had to get our own show up and we just ran out of time.

Steven: It was interesting to witness our own extremes with the Apollo Show and the SXSW show. We went from emphasizing soul music at the Apollo to flipping 180 degrees for a Woody Guthrie celebration at SXSW. It was quite interesting to have that reinforced and have it be totally integrated in the work – not doing either extreme as a sort of specialty, gimmicky show, but actually having those roots so firmly planted in the material – and to be reminded how wide and varied the identity of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band actually is at this point. It's some kind of example of Americana in all of its forms.

It was a pretty bold move to debut the new band and new show at the Apollo, considering it was being broadcast live.
Steven: To do our first show as a broadcast, that's real balls. I'm proud of us for pulling it off. It was pretty close to flawless, I have to say. Keep in mind, we have a brand new five-piece horn section. We're still working on horn parts. We're still working on vocal parts with the singers. We have a couple new people involved. I took it for granted, but they were probably a bit nervous. They did great, though. 

We spent a lot of time thinking about this show and talking about it. The horn section was a good answer to the unanswerable: "How do you replace Clarence Clemons?" Well, you don't. It's real simple. The same way you replace Danny Federici. You don't. You have somebody else playing those parts, but you have to do something else, you have to morph it into a hybrid of what you were. It's not going to be the same.

How long ago did rehearsals begin?
Nils: They've been off and on, but we got together in the second week of January. We had to address what was in front of us, which was a lot, and kind of take our time and experiment and let things evolve. There's so many changes. Certainly the biggest change of all is Clarence, which is a terrible loss. I've been in the band for 28 years, and I'm pretty sure it's accurate to say that the band has never gone on the road with three-and-a-half albums of new material. When Bruce put out the Darkness On The Edge of Town package, there were 23 unreleased songs and they never toured behind that. And then you had 11 new songs. All this material is really valid and great and we've never integrated it into our show, which is already hundreds of songs that we haven't presented in over two years. It was an abnormal amount of new material to disseminate. It's just a giant, beautiful jigsaw puzzle of music. 

Steven: Usually we start rehearsals two weeks before the first show and kick around some ideas for the set, maybe do six rehearsals, period. Each tour has its own energy, and the writing is the script for the show. It's like a Broadway show or a movie. You have to start with the script, and that's always a new album for us. We've never been a nostalgia band. Every single time we go out, we're saying something new, something that's been on Bruce's mind in that period. In this case, instead of our usual five or six days, we did 10 or 12. We probably had 40 horn charts. That's a lot of work just to outline the charts, never mind tweak them and really get into the details of arranging, which, of course, I love to do, and Bruce is also really good at.

So that's going on, and we have to integrate this new album, adapt it – in this case, a little more adaptation, because it was a solo album. This is the first time this has ever happened, where he's touring with the E Street Band behind a solo album. But it's good, and we had the whole new album down in two days. Then you start kicking around ideas and doing older things. "My City of Ruins" ended up playing a major role in this show, really for the first time. It's always been an emotional song but sort of a specialty song, maybe an encore. This time it ended up playing a very, very different and central role.

This is the most difficult task ever. How do you address Clarence and Danny? How do you address that? You talk to ten different people and they're going to have ten different ideas. But it's really not easy. You're trying to do something that's very, very emotional, and at the same time, you don't want to make the show a funeral. You want to make sure the show is a celebration of life. It's a very delicate, very fine line to walk. And (Bruce) comes up with this rap – it's so fucking great, and so perfect. I'm awestruck. This guy still inspires me after 45 fucking years of doing this. I'm like, "Jesus Christ, that's so fucking good, so important." It's such an important moment in the show...It's probably the best start of a tour, I think ever, honestly.

I'm sure it was hard the first time you walked onstage without Clarence.
Nils: The first time that hit me the hardest was the Grammys. I'm standing there, and there's nobody to my right. It hit me hard. That's someone I'll miss the rest of my life, but I still love playing and it doesn't take away from the power of the songs of the band. 

Steven: It's emotional for me to walk onstage without Clarence, and it always will be. I still honestly once in a while get that feeling with Danny. I look over there and say, "Oh yeah, Danny's no longer…" That's never going to change. So I think the more people onstage, the more that helps. The more the configuration is different, the more that eases your emotional pain. In other words, you're not trying to replace them, you're doing a different thing. Through the years, since we started playing in 1965, you do a lot of different things. I've been in horn bands. I've been in country bands. You go into 100 different configurations in your life. Now it feels like another one. It's almost like you're in a different band, in a sense, even though the core of the band is still there.

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Exclusive: Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren Open Up About the New E Street Band

Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt perform at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards.

The past month has been a time of frenzied activity for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They taped two TV appearances, played special gigs at the Apollo Theater and SXSW, and launched a world tour in support of Springsteen's new LP, Wrecking Ball. Late last week, Rolling Stone chatted separately with E Street Band guitarists Steven Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren about the new E Street Band and how they're carrying on after the loss of Clarence Clemons.

You guys almost always do rehearsal shows before launching a big tour. Why didn't those happen this time?
Nils: Previously, the rehearsal shows were kind of a last-minute thing. I think probably what happened is that we were putting our own show together, which inevitably heads towards rehearsal shows. But because of the new record, we made commitments. We did the Grammys, two nights on Jimmy Fallon and the Apollo Show. Next on the horizon was the SXSW show. All of a sudden it was like, "Gosh, we have five different shows to prepare." Bruce always takes the time to slant the shows to the occasion, and we had to get our own show up and we just ran out of time.

Steven: It was interesting to witness our own extremes with the Apollo Show and the SXSW show. We went from emphasizing soul music at the Apollo to flipping 180 degrees for a Woody Guthrie celebration at SXSW. It was quite interesting to have that reinforced and have it be totally integrated in the work – not doing either extreme as a sort of specialty, gimmicky show, but actually having those roots so firmly planted in the material – and to be reminded how wide and varied the identity of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band actually is at this point. It's some kind of example of Americana in all of its forms.

It was a pretty bold move to debut the new band and new show at the Apollo, considering it was being broadcast live.
Steven: To do our first show as a broadcast, that's real balls. I'm proud of us for pulling it off. It was pretty close to flawless, I have to say. Keep in mind, we have a brand new five-piece horn section. We're still working on horn parts. We're still working on vocal parts with the singers. We have a couple new people involved. I took it for granted, but they were probably a bit nervous. They did great, though. 

We spent a lot of time thinking about this show and talking about it. The horn section was a good answer to the unanswerable: "How do you replace Clarence Clemons?" Well, you don't. It's real simple. The same way you replace Danny Federici. You don't. You have somebody else playing those parts, but you have to do something else, you have to morph it into a hybrid of what you were. It's not going to be the same.

How long ago did rehearsals begin?
Nils: They've been off and on, but we got together in the second week of January. We had to address what was in front of us, which was a lot, and kind of take our time and experiment and let things evolve. There's so many changes. Certainly the biggest change of all is Clarence, which is a terrible loss. I've been in the band for 28 years, and I'm pretty sure it's accurate to say that the band has never gone on the road with three-and-a-half albums of new material. When Bruce put out the Darkness On The Edge of Town package, there were 23 unreleased songs and they never toured behind that. And then you had 11 new songs. All this material is really valid and great and we've never integrated it into our show, which is already hundreds of songs that we haven't presented in over two years. It was an abnormal amount of new material to disseminate. It's just a giant, beautiful jigsaw puzzle of music. 

Steven: Usually we start rehearsals two weeks before the first show and kick around some ideas for the set, maybe do six rehearsals, period. Each tour has its own energy, and the writing is the script for the show. It's like a Broadway show or a movie. You have to start with the script, and that's always a new album for us. We've never been a nostalgia band. Every single time we go out, we're saying something new, something that's been on Bruce's mind in that period. In this case, instead of our usual five or six days, we did 10 or 12. We probably had 40 horn charts. That's a lot of work just to outline the charts, never mind tweak them and really get into the details of arranging, which, of course, I love to do, and Bruce is also really good at.

So that's going on, and we have to integrate this new album, adapt it – in this case, a little more adaptation, because it was a solo album. This is the first time this has ever happened, where he's touring with the E Street Band behind a solo album. But it's good, and we had the whole new album down in two days. Then you start kicking around ideas and doing older things. "My City of Ruins" ended up playing a major role in this show, really for the first time. It's always been an emotional song but sort of a specialty song, maybe an encore. This time it ended up playing a very, very different and central role.

This is the most difficult task ever. How do you address Clarence and Danny? How do you address that? You talk to ten different people and they're going to have ten different ideas. But it's really not easy. You're trying to do something that's very, very emotional, and at the same time, you don't want to make the show a funeral. You want to make sure the show is a celebration of life. It's a very delicate, very fine line to walk. And (Bruce) comes up with this rap – it's so fucking great, and so perfect. I'm awestruck. This guy still inspires me after 45 fucking years of doing this. I'm like, "Jesus Christ, that's so fucking good, so important." It's such an important moment in the show...It's probably the best start of a tour, I think ever, honestly.

I'm sure it was hard the first time you walked onstage without Clarence.
Nils: The first time that hit me the hardest was the Grammys. I'm standing there, and there's nobody to my right. It hit me hard. That's someone I'll miss the rest of my life, but I still love playing and it doesn't take away from the power of the songs of the band. 

Steven: It's emotional for me to walk onstage without Clarence, and it always will be. I still honestly once in a while get that feeling with Danny. I look over there and say, "Oh yeah, Danny's no longer…" That's never going to change. So I think the more people onstage, the more that helps. The more the configuration is different, the more that eases your emotional pain. In other words, you're not trying to replace them, you're doing a different thing. Through the years, since we started playing in 1965, you do a lot of different things. I've been in horn bands. I've been in country bands. You go into 100 different configurations in your life. Now it feels like another one. It's almost like you're in a different band, in a sense, even though the core of the band is still there.

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