The 90s Grunge band that Joe Perry said he loves

The legendary guitarist Joe Perry helped to form Aerosmith in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts and was a fundamental part of the band’s sound and attitude. Until their retirement from touring in 2024, the band played all over the world and readapted their sound according to the decade they were and how music was at the time. Their constant evolution made them one of the best-selling bands of all time with an estimated amount of more than 150 million records worldwide.

He always was interested in new bands and even in the 90s, when Grunge really became big and overshadowed old bands like Aerosmith, there was one band from that movement that he really loved.

The 90s Grunge band that Joe Perry said he loves

Grunge really changed the whole Rock and Roll scene in the early 90s. Although it really affected negatively the image of old bands, Aerosmith really embraced some of those. One of them was Stone Temple Pilots. Joe Perry really loved them and started a great friendship with the members of the group in the early 90s when they opened for Aerosmith. In an interview with Guitar World in 2013, the guitarist praised them and listed the song “Plush” as one of his favorite ones. The track was part of their debut album “Core”, released in 1992.

“Another Nineties band I have a lot of respect for. Having met Robert and Dean Deleo and that Jailbird singer of theirs (Scott Weiland), I like them all as people as well. This isn’t meant to sound trite, their sheer musicality. Their influences are kind of Beatles-esque in a way.”

Joe Perry continued:

“Having done some songwriting with Robert, I picture him in another life playing jazz guitar someplace in Harlem in the Forties. Musically, his head is on another planet. I love the way they sound. I hope they get back together,” Joe Perry said.

Their connection really continued and STP was Aerosmith’s opening in the 90s and the early 00s, for example. From 2016 to 2017, Joe Perry and Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo were bandmates in the supergroup Hollywood Vampires. They also would work again on Perry’s 2023 solo album “Sweetzerland Manifesto MKII”. DeLeo played in the songs “Fortunate One” and “Suck It Up”.

Stone Temple Pilots was formed in San Diego, California back in 1989 and released their first album “Core” in 1992. The band was originally formed by Dean DeLeo (Guitar), Robert DeLeo (Bass), Eric Kretz (Drums) and Scott Weiland (Vocals). That original line-up came to an end in 2015 when Weiland passed away and nowadays they have Jeff Gutt as the vocalist. They released six albums with Scott Weiland on vocals and two with Jeff Gutt on vocals.

Robert DeLeo was invited to write with Aerosmith in the 90s

Robert DeLeo’s friendship with Aerosmith already existed in the 90s. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry even joined them on stage once to perform “Sweet Emotion” and “Lick & Promise”. He was also invited to try to write with the band at the time. He recalled that incredible story in an interview with KNAC.COM, in 2002.

“That was pretty amazing. I got asked back in like ’95 to go out and write with Aerosmith. I’ve gone out several times, I remember pulling up to Joe Perry’s house and he was outside. (He) had just got this stereo for his car. He’s like, ‘hey, check this out.’ Then Steven [Tyler] had just drove-up, we all got in Joe’s car to check out his new stereo.”

“I thought I was dreaming! We wrote songs in Joe’s basement. I hung with his family. I have to say Aerosmith is just some very nice people, those guys are very amazing people. On the Tiny Music tour when we played Madison Square Garden, I called them up and they were in the city mixing the record, I said, ‘You guys need to come by and do a couple songs.’ Half way through the set, we introduced Joe and Steven. We did ‘Sweet Emotion,’ and the place just went crazy. (Then) we did ‘Lick & a Promise’ off of Rocks, which is one of my favorite songs,” Robert DeLeo said.