Joe Perry life and biography

Anthony Joseph “Joe” Perry, is the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for the longstanding rock and roll band Aerosmith.

Perry, was born to the children of Portuguese and Italian immigrants. His grandfather changed the family’s name from Pereira to Perry upon arriving in America. He has a younger sister, Ann-Marie.

Joe Perry joined Aerosmith at its formation in 1969. While initially dismissed as Rolling Stones knock-offs, the band came into its own during the mid-1970s with a string of hit records. Chief among these successes were Toys in the Attic in 1975 and Rocks in 1976, thanks largely to the prevenlance of free-form, album-oriented FM radio. The group also managed hit singles on the AM dial with songs like “Dream On”, “Same Old Song and Dance”, “Sweet Emotion” and “Walk This Way”.

During this time, Perry and Aerosmith vocalist Steven Tyler became known as the “Toxic Twins”, for their notorious hard-partying and drug use.

Following Rocks, the group began to stumble - drug use escalated and the creative-process became hampered by strained relationships within the band. They managed another hit record in 1977 with Draw the Line, but by all accounts this is where things started to unravel; while recording their next album (Night in the Ruts), Perry and Tyler had a spat that resulted in Perry finally leaving the band.

Perry released his first solo record, the self-titled Joe Perry, in May 2005. It was recorded at his home studio (The Boneyard) in suburban Boston, with every instrument but the drums played by Perry himself. Critics also responded favorably; Rolling Stone magazine crowned it with three-and-a-half (out of five) stars, declaring "A Joe Perry solo joint? about time!" He was also nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental" at the 2006 Grammys for the track "Mercy" but lost to Les Paul.

In 2009, while on tour with Aerosmith, Joe Perry announced that he would be releasing a new Joe Perry Project album entitled Have Guitar, Will Travel, which was released on October 6, 2009. The first single from the album was "We've Got a Long Way to Go." This marks the first Joe Perry Project album since 1983's Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker, and the fifth Joe Perry solo album in total, counting the 2005 self-titled album.

Solo discography:
-Let the Music Do the Talking (1980)
-I've Got the Rock'n'Rolls Again (1981)
-Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker (1983)
-Joe Perry (2005)
-Have Guitar, Will Travel (2009)

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