The legendary guitarist opens up in Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith about music, family, and putting up with Steven Tyler.
Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame Larry Busacca
Joe Perry told BuzzFeed News recently that he wrote his new autobiography, Rocks: My Life in and Out of Aerosmith, because he wanted to explore the question "How the hell did we manage to do it?" The "it," of course, being taking the band he co-founded at age 19 with a group of Three Stooges-loving kids in Massachusetts and turning it into what is often referred to as "America's Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band."
So how did Perry and Co. do it? Here are 10 surprising revelations from Perry's autobiography that help answer that question — and more — in candid detail:
Perry plays guitar backward.
Perry is left-handed, but when he got his first guitar at the age of 12 it came with an instructional record for righties. Not knowing any better, Perry learned to play by listening to that record, and has played right-handed ever since.
Getty Images Frank Micelotta
In Aerosmith's early days, lead singer Steven Tyler had sticky fingers.
Not long after the band lost an important gig because Tyler stole — of all things — a slide projector, three gun-toting thugs accused him of stealing $2,000 out of their suitcase. Tyler professed his innocence, but a band confidant later told Perry that Tyler had indeed taken the money.
Ron Pownall
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10 Surprising Facts About Aerosmith From Guitarist Joe Perry