In this Monday, Aug. 3, 2009 photo, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler speaks to fans before at the start of the Legends Ride, in Deadwood, S.D. Tyler of Aerosmith suffered head, neck and shoulder injuries in a tumble from the stage at a South Dakota concert and joked about the fall as he was put into the helicopter to be taken to a hospital, a concert spokesman said Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve McEnroe)
From the Associated Press
STURGIS, S.D. (AP) – Aerosmith postponed at least one weekend concert after frontman Steven Tyler fell off the stage at a South Dakota show and suffered what a concert spokesman said were head, neck and shoulder injuries.
Tyler, 61, fell several feet while dancing around as the sound crew replaced a fuse that blew during the song “Love in an Elevator,” Mike Sanborn, spokesman for the Buffalo Chip Campground, said Thursday.
Buffalo Chip hosted the Wednesday concert during which an amateur video showed Tyler spinning around before falling.
A concertgoer said Tyler’s head was bleeding and he was holding his shoulder after the fall, but it remained unclear Thursday how seriously he was hurt. The frontman was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital, Sanborn said. A hospital spokeswoman would not confirm whether Tyler was there, and a representative for Aerosmith’s publicity firm said only that the company was gathering information.
The band’s Friday concert in Winnipeg, Manitoba, was postponed. On June 28, Tyler hurt his leg at a concert in Uncasville, Conn., and the band postponed seven shows in July. Tyler also battled pneumonia before the tour began in June, while guitarist Joe Perry fought a knee infection.
Tyler, whose performances often include swaying and grinding on microphone stands adorned with scarves, was dancing on a catwalk Wednesday night that was connected to the main stage.
“He does a lot of dancing on the stage and he does a lot of stuff with his mike stand. He put his stand down and twirled around and stepped backwards off the stage,” Sanborn said.
Many in the crowd thought it was part of the act, said Jessica Kokesh, a University of South Dakota journalism student who covered the concert for the Rapid City Journal.
“We thought maybe he stage-dived into the crowd, but he didn’t get back up,” Kokesh said.
Tyler landed on a couple of fans, Sanborn said, and security rushed to help him. The crowd cheered when Tyler was helped up.
“There was like a big sigh, a collective ‘Whoa’ from everybody,” said Chuck Baker, 53, of Denver, who was about 20 rows from the stage when Tyler fell.
The rocker was taken backstage, where a physician attended to him. Later, Perry told the audience the show would not go on.
Jake Cohen was in the VIP area backstage and didn’t see the fall, but said he saw Tyler afterward.
“When they took him out, he was bleeding from his head and holding his shoulder,” said Cohen, a salesman for Tyler’s Dirico Motorcycles line.
Tyler, known for hits such as “Walk This Way” and “Dream On,” promoted his motorcycle line at Sturgis last year and was back to do the same and play at Buffalo Chip.
He was known for heavy drug and alcohol abuse in the 1970s and early 1980s. Every member of the blues-rock five-piece went to rehab in the mid-1980s, and the group staged an improbable comeback with the MTV generation. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
