Toxic Twins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Toxic Twins is a nickname given to lead singer Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry of American hard rock band Aerosmith. They were given that name in the 1970s, due to their rampant use of drugs & alcohol both on and off stage, which was a "toxic" combination that almost ended their lives and their careers.
To this day, they are still commonly referred to by this nickname, despite coming clean and maintaining sobriety for the past 20 years. Their camaraderie can be viewed in several of the band's videos, such as The Making of Pump, Big Ones You Can Look At, and You Gotta Move.
The two are longtime friends and in the early 1980s Steven Tyler came close to crying in a television interview when discussing the pain he felt since Joe Perry left the band. Both Tyler and Perry team up for the majority of Aerosmith's songwriting (they share songwriting credits on over 80 songs) and leadership responsibilities, and are the most recognized members of the band. Because of this, the three remaining members of Aerosmith, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer are known jokingly within the band as the "LI3" or "Less interesting three".
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[edit] Collaborations
[edit] Musical
Often, the Toxic Twins will appear for special performances, appearances, and collaborations, without the other members of Aerosmith. Notable times when this has happened, include:
- A 1986 collaboration with Run-DMC for a remake of the Aerosmith song "Walk This Way", which pushed hip hop music into the mainstream, and jumpstarted Aerosmith's career again.
- The recording of the remake of the song and filming of the video for "Wild Thing" with other rock stars and comedian Sam Kinison in 1988.
- An appearance at a Bon Jovi concert in 1989 in Milton Keynes, where Steven and Joe joined Bon Jovi for a performance of "Walk This Way".
- An appearance at a Guns N' Roses concert in 1992 in Paris where Steven and Joe performed "Mama Kin" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'" with Guns N' Roses.
- A 1995 performance with Led Zeppelin at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- An appereance at a Stone Temple Pilots concert in 1996 in New York where Steven and Joe performed "Sweet Emotion".
- A 1997 commercial for GAP
- An appearance at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards in which Steven and Joe performed with Kid Rock and Run-DMC for a collaboration of "Walk This Way".
- A 2002 collaboration in which Tyler and Perry guested on Eminem's "Sing for the Moment" which sampled Aerosmith's "Dream On".
- A 2006 performance with the Boston Pops Orchestra of the band's hits "Dream On", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "Walk This Way" for the orchestra's annual Fourth of July celebration in Boston, MA.
Additionally, Steven and Joe are part of the "Boneyard Boys", a group which formed circa late 1990s to include Steven, Joe, and friends Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson, among others, who help spearhead the songwriting, production, and much of the creative process in Aerosmith.
[edit] Business
The two used to co-own a restaurant in Norwell, MA called Mount Blue, of which they have since sold their shares.
[edit] Personal
- In the mid-1990s, between the albums Get a Grip and Nine Lives, Tyler and Perry and their families vacationed together in Florida.
- The Toxic Twins were also notably featured in Ted Nugent's book God, Guns, and Rock 'n' Roll, in which Ted praises the duo for coming clean and talks about how they came to his ranch in the 1990s to shoot firearms and spend time with him and his family.
[edit] Songwriting Partnership
Tyler and Perry are a notable songwriting duo, and have an impressive collection of songs they have written together. Among these are:
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[edit] Similar Musical Duos
The name "Toxic Twins" may have been inspired by one of the duo's main influences, the "Glimmer Twins", the nickname for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. Additionally, it may have inspired other musical nicknames, like the "Terror Twins" of Def Leppard and "The Suicide Twins" of Hanoi Rocks. Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee were also known as the Toxic Twins.
[edit] Tributes
- An achievement in the Xbox 360 version of the game Guitar Hero II, is titled the "Joe and Steven Award" in tribute to the Toxic Twins. It is awarded to two players who can get a 500 note streak in cooperative mode.
[edit] References
- Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith by Stephen Davis and Aerosmith
- The Making of Pump
- Aerosmith: Behind the Music
