Back in the Saddle Under the Shell, Aerosmith Returns for Two Nights at the Hollywood Bowl

The tease came from a ladder on Highland Avenue. Earlier this week Aerosmith posted a short clip of Steven Tyler climbing up to the Hollywood Bowl marquee with the rock photographer Ross Halfin, sliding letters into place until the sign read “With Friends” above two dates, October 29 and November 1. “Do you even know how to spell Aerosmith?” Halfin asks him in the clip, according to the Orange County Register. A few seconds later Halfin asks whether he misses performing. “Of all the things I miss, I miss my mind the most,” Tyler replies.

On Wednesday the joke turned into a pair of concerts. Aerosmith announced that the band will reconvene to play two shows at the Hollywood Bowl, its first appearances since it said it was retiring from the road in 2024, the Los Angeles Times reported. The event is called California, Dream On, Aerosmith and Friends, a nod to the band’s hit “Dream On.”

A Guest List Built for a Stadium

The friends are the headline as much as the band. Live Nation-Hewitt Silva and Blackbird Presents announced a lineup that includes the Black Crowes, Run DMC, Heart, Andrew Watt, Billy Idol, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duff McKagan and Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Eric Church, Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains, Marcus King, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, Pat Monahan of Train, Sammy Hagar, Steve Stevens, Sully Erna of Godsmack, Tom Morello, Adam Wakeman, Audley Freed and Kenny Aronoff, according to the announcement as published by The Music Universe. Don Was will serve as music director.

The announcement describes the roster as a mix of artists who have performed or recorded with Aerosmith and a younger wave of musicians who cite the band as a major influence. It also leaves the door open. “Even more artists, special guests, and surprise appearances will be announced in the weeks ahead, promising unforgettable collaborations and unexpected moments across both nights,” the concert announcement reads, as quoted by Rolling Stone. The lineup will vary from night to night, and final nightly bills will be announced at or near showtime.

Tyler will sing with Aerosmith for part of the night, with the guests joining the band as well, the Register reported. The official ticket page adds that a portion of the proceeds will benefit Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund.

The Long Road Back to the Stage

The return closes a strange chapter. On May 1, 2023, Aerosmith rolled out plans for a 40-date North American farewell run called the Peace Out tour, Rolling Stone recalled. “I think it’s about time,” guitarist Joe Perry told the Associated Press at the time. “You never know how much longer everybody’s going to be healthy to do this.”

The tour opened in Philadelphia on September 2, 2023, with a set that mixed “Love in an Elevator,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Dream On” with deeper cuts like “Adam’s Apple” and “Hangman’s Jury.” It stopped two shows later, after Tyler injured his larynx during a concert in Elmont, New York. The band first tried to postpone, then canceled the entire tour and announced in August 2024 that it was retiring from the touring stage, according to Rolling Stone and the Register. A December 2024 date at the Kia Forum in Inglewood was among the shows that never happened.

Of all the things I miss, I miss my mind the most.

Tyler never fully disappeared. He sang at Ozzy Osbourne’s Back to the Beginning farewell concert in Birmingham in July 2025, and Rolling Stone noted that each time he surfaced he sang without apparent difficulty or strain. That September he and Perry played the all-star tribute to Osbourne at the MTV Video Music Awards with Yungblud. The same month, Tyler joined Perry during the Joe Perry Project’s opening set for the Who at this same Hollywood Bowl, the Register reported. In November 2025 Aerosmith and Yungblud released One More Time, a five-song collaborative EP that Loudwire described as the band’s first new music in 13 years.

Meanwhile the members kept busy apart. Perry’s Joe Perry Project toured with Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson and Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo, and bassist Tom Hamilton toured and recorded with his band Close Enemies, according to Rolling Stone. In a December interview with Guitar World, Perry hinted that the band had discussed playing at least one more show tied to a documentary about Aerosmith’s story, Loudwire reported.

Why the Bowl, and Why Now

Aerosmith formed in Boston in 1970, and the announcement leans hard on five decades of catalog, from “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way” to “Janie’s Got a Gun,” “Crazy,” “Cryin’” and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” The band are four-time Grammy winners and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and the announcement says they are among the only groups to land Top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 across six consecutive decades.

Choosing the Hollywood Bowl over an arena run keeps this comeback small and deliberate. Two nights, one historic open-air room and a revolving cast of guests. It also slots neatly into a crowded October at the shell. Loudwire pointed out that the dates sit around My Chemical Romance’s own run at the Bowl, on nights when that band is not playing. October 29 lands between its shows on the 24th and the 30th, and November 1 is the night after its Halloween finale. Velvet covered that run in Five Nights in Black, My Chemical Romance Takes Over the Hollywood Bowl. The result is a week where the hillside goes from Black Parade eyeliner to scarves on the mic stand in the space of a day.

The rollout itself was a small piece of theater. When the band’s promised reveal arrived on Tuesday morning, it offered only a behind-the-scenes clip from the marquee shoot and a caption that read “Should’ve known letting Steven do the marquee would take a few takes... More tomorrow.” Some fans grumbled in the comments, Loudwire reported. Wednesday brought the real thing.

Getting In

California, Dream On, Aerosmith and Friends plays the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, October 29, and Sunday, November 1. A Citi cardmember presale begins at 10 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, October 8, and the general on sale opens at 10 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, October 10, according to the Register. VIP packages will be offered, and ticket links for both nights are on the band’s official site.

The guests will change from night to night, and nobody has promised a set list. What is promised is Tyler back under the shell with Aerosmith behind him, on the same stage where he joined Perry’s opening set in September 2025. This time the marquee says so, and he hung some of the letters himself.