LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Aerosmith will be touring a city near you for the last time to celebrate the rock band's 50-plus years together.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band announced Monday the dates for their farewell tour called 鈥淧eace Out鈥 starting Sept. 2 in Philadelphia. The 40-date run of shows, which includes a stop in the band鈥檚 hometown of Boston on New Year鈥檚 Eve, will end Jan. 26 in Montreal.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 about time,鈥 guitarist Joe Perry said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Perry said the group, with frontman Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford, learned from the staging and production from their recent Las Vegas residency shows.
Perry believes the time to say goodbye is now, especially with every founding band member over the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we鈥檝e been out here,鈥 Perry said. 鈥淵ou never know how much longer everybody鈥檚 going to be healthy to do this. 鈥 It鈥檚 been a while since we鈥檝e actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road.鈥
Tyler and Perry said the band is looking forward to digging into their lengthy catalog of the group鈥檚 rock classics including 鈥淐razy,鈥 鈥淛anie鈥檚 Got a Gun鈥 and 鈥淟ivin鈥 on the Edge.鈥
Over the years, Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, has collected four Grammys. The band broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for 鈥淲alk This Way.鈥
Aerosmith performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001 and even had their own theme park attraction in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the 鈥淩ock 鈥榥鈥 Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" ride.
鈥淲e鈥檙e opening up Pandora鈥檚 Box one last time to present our fans with the Peace Out tour,鈥 Tyler said in a statement to the AP. His 鈥淧andora's Box鈥 reference calls out Aerosmith's 1991 three-disc compilation album that covered the band's output from the 1970s to the early 1980s.
鈥淏e there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready,鈥 Tyler added.
The band said Kramer decided to not take part in the current dates on the upcoming tour. He鈥檚 still a part of the group, but the drummer has been on leave to 鈥渇ocus his attention on his family and health鈥 since their Vegas residency last year. Drummer John Douglas will continue to play in his place.
Perry called Kramer their brother. The band said his 鈥渓egendary presence behind the drum kit will be sorely missed.鈥
Before the 40-date tour wraps, Perry said other cities domestically and internationally could be added.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the final farewell tour, but I have a feeling it will go on for a while,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 know how many times we鈥檒l be coming back to the same cities. It could very possibly be the last time.鈥
