Massachusetts court rules that drummer Joey Kramer will not be allowed to rejoin Aerosmith
The drummer will not be performing at the Grammys or the MusiCares tribute show.
Image: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty
A Massachusetts court has ruled against Kramer’s request to rejoin Aerosmith, ahead of their upcoming Grammys performance and MusiCares tribute show.
The judge ruled that, “given that Kramer has not played with the band in six months and the dearth of available rehearsal time before the upcoming performances, Kramer has not shown a realistic alternative course of action sufficient to protect the band’s business interests,” as reported by TMZ.
Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer had filed a lawsuit against the band, claiming that they unfairly excluded him from rejoining the group for their upcoming Grammys performance on 26 January.
Kramer also claimed that he was forced to re-audition for his role in order to demonstrate that he could “play at an appropriate level”, as stated in the suit. Additionally, the suit mentioned that Kramer was treated inconsistently as there was 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.
According to Kramer, he was required to record himself playing solo as he played along to a click track, even though such a standard was never enforced when other members had suffered injuries that kept them from performing.
“This is not about money,” Kramer said in a press statement. “I am being deprived of the opportunity to be recognised along with my peers for our collective lifetime contributions to the music industry.”
Aerosmith responded to Kramer’s suit by saying that there was not enough time for the drummer to rehearse and rejoin the band for their Grammys performance, but could still appear alongside them nonetheless. “Joey has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week. We would be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves, and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse,” the band said in the press statement.
“Given his decisions he is unfortunately unable to perform but of course we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honour.”
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