Aerosmith: Steven Tyler Back on Drugs?

The relationships between Aerosmith's five members are playing out like a soap opera, and guitarist Brad Whitford has a theory as to why: singer Steven Tyler is back on drugs.
"This guy has a tremendous history of drug abuse, and you have to be suspicious that this is something that is probably going on with him," Whitford told Rock Radio. "I think that that's got to be a part of this irrational behavior." (Tyler has denied any recent drug use.)

Irrational, indeed. Since Tyler's fall from the stage in South Dakota in August forced the band to cancel their U.S. tour, the frontman has been estranged from the band, and even said he plans to leave the Boston fivesome to focus on "something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself -- Brand Tyler." Guitarist Joe Perry soon Tweeted that "Aerosmith is positively looking for a new singer to work with," only to be surprised just days later when Tyler arrived unannounced at Perry's solo gig in New York to perform "Walk This Way," and tell the crowd that "I'm not leaving Aerosmith."

While it seemed all the hubbub was a big misunderstanding, that certainly wasn't the end of Aerosmith's dramarama.
After the gig, Perry claimed the band's issues were far from over, as Tyler still planned to take two years off to pursue solo endeavors. Whitford, mirroring Perry, said the band are still considering moving forward with a new singer.

"We all know that there's really no way to replace Steven, but we want to continue touring together," Whitford said. "We even have a 40-year anniversary coming up and it's a milestone. We want to be able to celebrate it together and there's millions of fans out there that are dedicated to us."

Elaborating on Tyler's potential slip back into drug abuse, Whitford added: "Historically or statistically, the majority of people in that situation don't make it. I have a feeling we might be looking at, you know, someone who's just really struggling very badly with this."

Can Aerosmith continue with a new singer? Tell us what you think in the comment section, and then read SPIN's suggestions to replace Tyler.

http://www.spin.com

Why China Isn't Willing to Get Too Tough on Iran

From left: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao


China's government, as President Barack Obama by now no doubt knows, loves to talk about climate change. But it's an issue that exists for Beijing at 30,000 ft., far from earthly, everyday concerns. So President Hu Jintao can play the responsible global citizen by making vague commitments, as he did at the U.N. this fall, to reduce his country's carbon gas emissions by a "notable amount" at some point in the future without actually doing anything that might disrupt China's economy. But he doesn't have the same luxury of deferring action on the increasingly urgent global concerns over nuclear developments in Iran and North Korea.

Obama's sense of urgency over Iran is pretty apparent. Before arriving in Beijing, he conferred on the issue with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the APEC summit in Singapore and warned that "time is running out" for Iran to accept a deal to send its uranium to Russia for reprocessing into reactor fuel. The implicit message was clear: unless Iran accepts the plan, the U.S. will press for further sanctions against Tehran, this time possibly seeking restrictions on investment in Iran's vital energy sector.

http://www.time.com