AEROSMITH kicked off the North American leg of its "Cocked, Locked, Ready To Rock Tour" this past Friday, July 23 at Oakland, California's Oracle Arena.

According to The Pulse of Radio, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry maintains that although he was seeking a replacement for vocalist Steven Tyler last year, it was only for a temporary stand-in. Perry told Guitar Player magazine, "I was just looking at it as working with somebody and jamming, as a temporary thing. People were flipping out, like, 'It's not going to be AEROSMITH.' Well, no shit. You don't have to tell me that. But who knows what could have come of it? I knew (Tyler) would come back. I just didn't know when. But I was glad it was sooner rather than later."

Tyler shed some light on his time away from the band which preceded his latest stint in rehab, explaining: "It was a real trying time for me. We (Perry and I) didn't speak to each other for a while. . . and Joe just decided to look for another singer. I don't know what he was thinking, but we've since made amends to each other and, more importantly, the band's playing better."