It appears that Steven Tyler has been livin' a little too closely to the edge. The Aerosmith frontman has checked into a California rehab clinic for substance use treatment, according to reports.
It's the tragic reality of modern celebrity that no one is much surprised when a rock star turns out to be addicted to drugs. But yesterday's news is more poignant than it might appear. Tyler, 60, struggled with addiction throughout the 70s and early 80s, and was thought to have been clean for almost twenty years.
Hopefully, he will have better luck at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California. It's an appropriate place of recovery for one of rock'n'roll's most recognisable mouths: the hospital was the location of Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew, a reality TV show which premiered this year. Maybe Tyler was well into a three-day bender when he flicked the channel to VH1 and finally saw the light.
Back in the early 80s, Tyler and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry were so renowned for their binges that they earned the nickname "the Toxic Twins". It took four stints in rehab for Tyler to find sobriety, with the rest of Aerosmith eventually following suit. In the years since their mid-80s comeback, the band had even been known to forbid crew members from consuming drugs or alcohol in their presence.
Two years ago, Tyler revealed that he had been diagnosed with hepatitis C, possibly transmitted through sharing drug paraphernalia. After undergoing chemotherapy he announced that he had been cleared of the disease.
The sad truth is that if eleven months of chemotherapy wasn't enough to warn Steven Tyler off drugs once and for all, a difficult path lies ahead of him. One thing is certain: he's in better hands within Las Encinas hospital.
