Aerosmith look to 'replace' frontman Steve Tyler

Perry has not ruled out working with Tyler again

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry has revealed the band are starting auditions to replace Steven Tyler.

"We'll have found a new singer by the summer and Aerosmith will be able to go back out on the road," he told Canada's QMI news agency.

Tyler, who is currently in rehab for an addiction to painkillers, insisted in November he was not quitting the band.

But Perry said he thought their singer would not be available for a while so were looking to fill his place.

'Physically ready'

"It's kind of hard to get a straight answer about what's going on," Perry said.

"He [Tyler] has to have leg surgery and foot surgery and it's basically going to take him out of the picture for about a year, year and a half. So, in the meantime, the rest of the band wants to play.

The last things he said to the press were that he wanted to work with the band and sing with the band, so we'll see Joe Perry on whether Steven Tyler will return to the band

"So the four of us are just making our plans. We're gonna [sic] find somebody to get in there and fill that spot."

Perry has not ruled out Tyler returning to the band. He said: "I'm ready to write with him, to play on stage with him anytime he's physically ready and wants to do it.

"But it's really up to him. The last things he said to the press were that he wanted to work with the band and sing with the band, so we'll see."

The musician refused to mention any candidates for the job, but did say there were "a few people we've talked to".

Tyler attempted to end speculation that he was leaving the band after he appeared on stage with Perry in New York's Irving Plaza in November.

"I just want New York to know, I am not leaving Aerosmith," Tyler told the crowd, before launching into the group's signature hit, Walk This Way.

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