Sammy Hagar calls Aerosmith's retirement an 'honorable' decision

It's not just fans who are heartbroken by the news that Aerosmith has called it quits on touring after five decades.

Frontman Steven Tyler's longtime friend Sammy Hagar addressed the band's retirement during a show at Detroit's Pine Knob Music Theatre Friday, according to a video the Red Rocker shared on social media Monday.

"We had some crazy news today. ... Aerosmith called their retirement today. They quit; they stopped," Hagar said. Per fan videos posted online, he added: "God bless them. It's a horrible thing. It's a horrible thing; what a great ... loss."

The 76-year-old recalled performing with Montrose in Detroit in 1973 and opening for Aerosmith, a band they'd never heard of at the time who'd sold out the venue.

"We did our show, we did an encore and we played ‘Helter Skelter’ for our encore, right? And Aerosmith comes on and they opened with ‘Helter Skelter!' Hagar said. "Steven and I have been friends ever since.”

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'We all grew up with (Aerosmith),' Sammy Hagar says

"Long story short, we love those guys. We all grew up with those guys. You grew up with them, we grew up with them, Mike (Anthony) and I. They’ve been our competitors to Van Halen," the former Van Halen vocalist continued. "Anyway, what a shame. It's a sad thing. But honest to god, my hat goes off to one of the greatest rock 'n' roll singers of all time, Mr. Steven Tyler, for saying 'I can't sing anymore; I quit.' ... That's honorable."

He said he hopes to do the same thing if the time comes: "The day I can't sing anymore, I will ... do the same thing." Hagar also called out this was something some other musicians "should've did a long time ago."

He called the band to "do one for Aerosmith," and they launched into a performance of "Helter Skelter."

Hagar is currently in the midst of his Best of All Worlds Tour with bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham.

"What a tremendous loss to the concert industry and rock 'n' roll in general," Hagar captioned the video of his speech. "@Aerosmith, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, @IamStevenT one of the greatest frontman singers of all time. There's some great young talent coming up out there, but these are gonna be some big shoes to fill.

"My hat goes off to Steven and the boys for having the dignity and class to do what they did."

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Why Aerosmith retired from touring

Aerosmith shared the news of their retirement and the cancelation of their Peace Out tour on Friday in a social media post.

"We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing. As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side," the band said.

"Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision — as a band of brothers — to retire from the touring stage."

The rockers launched their farewell tour in Philadelphia in September 2023. However, after only a few shows, the band pressed pause on the tour so Tyler, 76, could recover from "vocal cord damage" sustained during their Long Island, New York, concert. When it became apparent the singer had fractured his larynx, too, Aerosmith postponed shows to 2024. 

They'd planned a rescheduled 40-date run starting Sept. 20 in Pittsburgh, with the tour concluding Feb. 26, 2025, in Buffalo, New York. The postponed shows have been canceled.