Can we dream on?
Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas — who was behind the boards for the band’s best-selling album, 1975’s “Toys in the Attic” — is still holding out hope that it’s not the end for the group after Steven Tyler’s vocal-cord injury forced them to cancel the remainder of their Peace Out: The Farewell Tour in 2024.
He’s still wishing that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers can go out with a bang.
“I hope so,” Douglas told The Post. “I don’t know, I hear rumors. But I’m sure that they would love to, you know?”
Last August, Aerosmith announced that they were retiring from touring because of Tyler’s vocal injury, with the singer fracturing his larynx during an early show on the farewell trek in September 2023 at Long Island’s UBS Arena.
“As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other,” Aerosmith wrote in an Instagram post. “He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side.”
“Sadly, it is clear, that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible,” the statement continued. “We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision – as a band of brothers – to retire from the touring stage.”
But Douglas, who began producing Aerosmith on 1974’s “Get Your Wings” LP and continued through 1982’s “Rock in a Hard Place” album, refuses to believe that that sweet emotion is gone forever — even if Aerosmith isn’t playing together as a band anymore.
“I mean, Joe [Perry] is gonna keep rocking,” he said of the Aerosmith guitarist who continues to perform solo and with the supergroup Hollywood Vampires.
Likewise, Tom Hamilton — who co-wrote “Sweet Emotion” on “Toys in the Attic” — is still plucking that bass. “Tom’s got a band, Close Enemies,” said Douglas.
“I mean, these guys want to keep playing.”
And the spirit of Aerosmith is also alive in the next generation.
“I’ve been doing records recently with [drummer] Joey Kramer’s son, Jesse Kramer,” said Douglas. “I mean, he’s incredible, an amazing drummer. I’ve been working with a group called SilverPlanes, and he’s in the band.”
And Douglas’ own son, John, played with Aerosmith during the band’s Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas residency from 2019 to 2022.
“I’ll tell. you, the residency that they did in Vegas was really amazing,” he said. “It was fun going to the gig.”
But the reality is that Aerosmith — which released “Toys in the Attic” 50 years ago on April 8, 1975 — just doesn’t exist without Tyler.
“There is no Aerosmith without Steven,” said Douglas. “So if Steven can sing, believe me, he’ll want to be out there.”
