Aerosmith, with Steven Tyler, booked for U.K. fest

DETROIT (Billboard) - Despite controversy about the status of its rehab-prone frontman, Aerosmith -- with Steven Tyler -- will be one of the headliners at England's annual Download Festival in June.

In a statement for the festival's official announcement, Tyler said, "In the early days of Aerosmith we were infected with the vibe coming out of the UK with the Yardbirds, Blues Breakers, Pretty Things and the Stones and we wanted what they had bad. So baby, we're coming home. Rock & Roll can be pure sex and we can't wait to Download..."

Tyler's comment was dropped from the version of the announcement that appears on the Downland web site, however, although it still specifies that "Steven Tyler, Joe Perry et al..." will be appearing.

The booking comes as Perry leads a bid to replace Tyler, ostensibly so that the band can tour and record while the singer deals with an addiction to painkillers and finishes his memoir. Tyler's attorney last month asked Aerosmith's management to "cease & desist" talk about a substitute singer.

Relations between Tyler and the rest of the band have been tense for months, maybe even years, and things came to a head in August when the band was forced to cancel a tour after Tyler fell of the stage mid-song. He entered rehab for the second time in two years last December.

Aerosmith has not made a public band comment about the Download booking, which was reportedly offered on the condition that Tyler be with the band. The group has also been offered potential tour dates in South America and Europe this year, according to Tyler's attorney, Skip Miller.

Other performers for the June 11-13 event at Donington Park in Leicestershire include AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine, Them Crooked Vultures, Megadeth, Motorhead and Stone Temple Pilots.