Born on 25 March: Steven Tyler took flight with Aerosmith

Born in the Yonkers neighbourhood of New York in 1948, he, like many other artists, chose a more resonant name, and became Steven Tyler rather quickly.

His musical career is primarily defined by an (almost) unbreakable friendship with guitarist Joe Perry. We soon forgot his first steps, notably within Chain Reaction, as well as his vacillations between the drums and the mic.

At the dawn of the 1970s, with their self-titled debut album in 1973, Aerosmith pushed the levels to the max. Like any self-respecting hard rock band, from the Scorpions to Guns’n Roses, Metallica to Ozzy Osbourne, the Americans naturally recorded a few incongruous ballads. They prefer to use the term "power ballads" which sounds a bit more… masculine! Written by Tyler, "Dream On" repeatedly found its way onto the Billboard charts, peaking at a modest Top 60 in 1973 before climbing to the sixth position a few years later in a shortened version. By covering "I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing" by Diane Warren for the soundtrack of the film "Armageddon" (1998), Tyler even sacrificed his rocker soul on the altar of violins. This was only half a surprise as he has always professed his interest in Beethoven and Bach. For Aerosmith, as for their long-haired peers, it has always been these tracks, so distant from their conventional repertoire, that have allowed them to reach the top of the charts.

Often compared to Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler has honed a strong image, sometimes flirting with androgyny and never hesitating to use a touch of eyeliner a bit too boldly. Cultivating his bohemian look, he has always loved wearing numerous amulets around his neck, as well as tying bandanas to his microphone stand.

In half a century of career, Aerosmith has produced a dozen albums. The Boston band has always navigated by pleasure, not refusing any collaboration. For example, in 1986, on the idea of producer Rick Rubin, the founder of the Def Jam label, their collaboration with Run DMC on the cover of "Walk This Way" (originally on "Toy In The Attic" in 1975) created quite a stir. Anathemas were even hurled across the Rubicon, but four decades later, this version remains iconic.

The combination of Joe Perry's guitar and the exceptional voice of Steven Tyler, often nicknamed "The Demon of Screams," is undoubtedly Aerosmith's trademark. Following a delicate vocal cord surgery in 2006, Tyler seems to have regained most of his abilities. His only solo recording, "We’re All Somebody From Somewhere" (2016), with its bluesy touches, sometimes resembles a touching confession of a man who has long abused drugs and alcohol. On "My Own Worst Enemy," this is even more evident...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Steven Tyler with Aerosmith on stage at Forest-National in Brussels (Belgium) on 25 October 1989.