29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Aerosmith fans are just realising what iconic band's name means after 55 years
Aerosmith, the American rock band that's been making waves in the music industry since 1970, hails from
Boston
and boasts a lineup of music icons - lead singer Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford.
These rock legends have created a sound that's all their own, mixing blues-based hard rock with pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal and rhythm and blues. It's no wonder they've inspired countless musicians with their distinctive style.
While hits like "Dream On", "Walk This Way" and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" are well-known, many fans might not know the story behind the band's name. Curiosity about Aerosmith's name sparked discussions on Quora, where fans speculated about its origins. The truth behind the name is quite intriguing.
When asked what the band's name means, one response read: "Aerosmith's name has an interesting origin. The band's lead guitarist, Joe Perry, and rhythm guitarist, Brad Whitford, came up with the name in the early 1970s.
"It is said that they combined the word 'aero', which suggests a sense of airiness or flight, with 'smith', a suffix that implies craftsmanship or creation. Additionally, the name was inspired by the band's earlier name, 'Joe Perry's Aerosmith', which referenced Perry's last name.
"Over time, they shortened it to just Aerosmith. The name reflects the band's rock and roll spirit and has become iconic in the music industry."
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith performs during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Another person added: "Joey Kramer came up with it while doodling on a book cover as I recall. Other members invoked the name of the book 'Arrowsmith', and he said: 'no - AERO'.
"The rest approved and the name was adopted for the fledgling band. The seminal Aerosmith 'wings' logo was a direct homage to the old 'Flying A' gas station signs. It of course evolved (in time) well past that humble beginning."
A third also suggested: "Joey Kramer, the drummer came up with it, used to doodle the name over and over in his high school notebook, and not that awful boring book Arrowsmith. Anyway, the rest of the guys in the band liked the name and spelling and the rest is history - America's best rock band was born."
Notwithstanding the mix of stories, there seems to be an authentic one among them. Joey Kramer, the co-founder and drummer of Aerosmith, is credited with naming the band.
The band have had a number of big hits
(Image:for Janie's Fund)
In his 2009 memoir Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top, and during a chat with
Ultimate Classic Rock Nights in 2019
, he shared that the inspiration for the band's name came to him back in 1968.
This stroke of creativity occurred two years before Aerosmith was formed when Kramer was still a high-schooler, and he cites a Harry Nilsson album as the source of inspiration.
Reflecting on the past, he reminisced: "I was listening to an album at the time, by Harry Nilsson, called Aerial Ballet. We were listening to this record and I started really getting off on the lyrics.
"We started kicking around this word 'aerial,' and 'aerial' eventually came into 'aero' – I don't know how that happened. And it was like Aeromind, Aerostar, Aero-this, Aero-that; and somebody said 'smith'-Aerosmith? Wow!
"And from then on it was all over my high school psychology books and my math books. The question was always, 'What's Aerosmith?' And I would tell people: 'When I leave high school I'm going to go have a rock 'n' roll band, and that's what it's going to be called. And we're going to be big and famous, and that's the scoop.' And they were all like, 'Oh, that's very nice, Joey.'"
