Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer joins band on stage to accept award despite lawsuit drama: report
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Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer sued his bandmates for preventing him from performing with them at the Grammys, but that didn’t stop the rocker from rubbing shoulders with the band at an event on Friday, according to a report.
The band received the 2020 MusiCares Person of the Year award at the 30th Anniversary MusiCares benefit gala held at the LA Convention Center.
According to TMZ, which obtained video from the event, Kramer joined Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford on stage as they accepted the award.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 10: Joey Kramer perform during Steven Tyler’s Second Annual GRAMMY Awards Viewing Party to benefit Janie’s Fund presented by Live Nation at Raleigh Studios on February 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Janie’s Fund)
Also in attendance was the band’s attorney, Dina LaPolt, who introduced the band and hinted at their lawsuit drama.
«They are brothers. They refer to each other as brothers and they even fight like brothers,» LaPolt said, according to the outlet.
Days prior to Friday’s event, Kramer, 69, was barred from entering the band’s rehearsal space, where they were practicing for their Friday and Sunday performances.
TMZ cameras were rolling the moment Kramer arrived at the Los Angeles studio, where two apologetic security guards turned him away because the other four members of the band hired them to ensure Kramer didn’t enter the venue.
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The drama began when Kramer filed a lawsuit against his bandmates for preventing him from performing with them at both events. In his complaint, which was reportedly thrown out by a judge, Kramer claimed the band asked him to audition following minor injuries he endured last spring that prevented him from performing for roughly six months.
In the documents, he claimed the rock group is freezing him out of their performances. The band responded to the lawsuit, explaining that they made the decision with Kramer’s health in mind.“Joey Kramer is our brother; his well-being is of paramount importance to us,” according to a statement from the band provided to Fox News. “However, he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so.”
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It continued: “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. Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events. 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 honor. We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage.”
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According to People, which obtained the court documents, Kramer’s lawsuit insisted that he recovered from his injuries in the fall of 2019 and was “willing and able to return” to the band for their residency shows in November and December. However, his bandmates insisted that Kramer prove he’s “able to play at an appropriate level.”
Kramer’s suit claimed that the stress of the situation caused another hospitalization that delayed his audition. He eventually sent a demo recording to the band, which determined that he was not at the level he needed to be at to perform with them at the Grammys and the upcoming MusiCares event.
Fox News’ Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
