Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer filed a lawsuit against the rest of the band, claiming they’ve unfairly excluded him from rejoining the group ahead of their upcoming Grammys performance and the continuation of their Las Vegas residency.
According to the suit, which was obtained by Rolling Stone, Kramer suffered a few minor injuries last spring that sidelined him just as the band was set to launch their Deuces Are Wild Las Vegas residency. By the fall, Kramer claims he was ready to rejoin the group, but the suit alleges he was rebuffed in ways that were inconsistent with the terms laid out in Aerosmith’s inter-band contract. The lawsuit comes ahead of Aerosmith’s scheduled performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards this Sunday, January 26th, as well as a tribute show in their honor, January 24th, as they accept the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
“This is not about money,” Kramer said in a statement. “I am being deprived of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers, for our collective, lifetime contributions to the music industry. Neither the MusiCares’ Person of the Year Award nor the Grammys’ Lifetime Achievement honors can ever be repeated.”
A representative for Aerosmith did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
According to Kramer, after he informed the band that he was ready to drum again last fall they essentially made him re-audition for the group — not by having him sit in with the band for a rehearsal, but by recording himself solo as he played along to a click track.
Per the suit, Kramer was told he needed to demonstrate that he could “play at an appropriate level,” even though such a standard had never been used in the band’s history when other members had suffered injuries that kept them from the stage. Additionally, Kramer’s suit notes that there’s no provision in the band’s contract requiring a member to “take any action to ‘prove’ or otherwise demonstrate his ability to perform after a period of temporary disability” in order to rejoin the band.
In an attempt to “defuse the situation,” the suit says Kramer eventually relented and let his replacement, John Douglas, play the rest of the Deuces Are Wild shows for 2019. (Kramer was responsible for paying Douglas; per the band’s contract, all members are entitled to their full share of live performance income even if they’re sidelined, although the replacement’s pay comes out of absent member’s cut.)
Earlier this month, Kramer finally acquiesced and auditioned with the click track. While other band members reportedly told him he sounded “great,” Kramer claims that on January 15th, Aerosmith held an unprecedented vote on his future and ultimately decided against him rejoining the band.
The suit claims that this decision wasn’t based on the already “made-up ‘play at an appropriate level’ standard, the made-up ‘play as well as the drum tech’ standard or the made-up ‘technically correct standard,’ but a new and even more unreasonable and arbitrary and capricious standard: that Mr. Kramer did not have enough ‘energy’ in the recordings.”
“The fact that I would be asked to audition for my own job, demonstrate that I can play at ‘an appropriate level’ and play better than my temporary fill-in with a moving target of made-up standards is both insulting and upsetting,” Kramer said in his statement. “Other band members and their lawyers will likely attempt to disparage my playing and claim that I am unable to play the drums right now. Nothing could be further from the truth. I did everything they asked — jumped through hoops and made both a recording of playing along solo to a recent live recording of the band — one I had never heard before, and that process was videotaped. But I did it, and I did it well. In Aerosmith’s 50-year history, no other band member has ever been subjected to this scrutiny let alone be asked to audition for his own job!”
Along with the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute and the 2020 Grammys performance, Aerosmith are set to resume their Las Vegas residency later this month, with additional shows scheduled in May and June. The band also plans to celebrate their 50th anniversary with a European tour this summer.