Friday, January 29, 2010
Steven Tyler's Strange Home Depot Trip Explained
As performances go, Steven Tyler nailed it.
The longtime Aerosmith frontman, who announced in December that he had entered rehab for pain management and an addiction to prescription painkillers, put on a brief show in the unlikeliest of places: a Home Depot.
Last Saturday, the singer, 61, visited the home improvement store's outlet in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where he serenaded shoppers over the p.a. system with Aerosmith hits "Dude Looks Like a Lady" and "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing."
Oddly, it wasn't his only impromptu desert gig lately. On Jan. 19, he also joined a group of people at the Tilted Kilt, a Palm Desert pub, watching a karaoke competition. After two singers were booed during their rendition of "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," Tyler grabbed the mike and finished the song, Mike May (a.k.a. DJ Kermie), who was working that night, told the Desert Sun.
The sightings have led to speculation that the singer has completed his treatment. In fact, Tyler is still in rehab.
"Steven Tyler has completed the first 30 days of intensive sobriety treatment and is now in a 90-day residential day treatment program," Eric Sherman, the president of Tenth Street Entertainment, Tyler's management company, tells PEOPLE.
A source close to Tyler explains that the singer "has privileges to leave the grounds," and the reason for his Home Depot trip was simple: "He was shopping."
Sherman says the singer is "a performer 24/7 – whether he's on stage, at the Home Depot or singing karaoke," and adds, "We are all really proud of Steven's continuing successful therapy and look forward to the day he returns to the stage and recording studio with Aerosmith to make new music for the fans."
Tyler, who has suffered orthopedic injuries over the past decade that have left him with chronic pain, will require additional surgeries on his knees and feet, his physician, Dr. Brian McKeon, Assistant Clinical Professor of Orthopedics at Tufts School of Medicine, said in December.
In a recent interview, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry expressed hope that Tyler would be well enough to rejoin the band in the future: "I'm ready to write with him, to play on stage with him anytime he's physically ready and wants to do it."
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