Veteran rocker denies reports he's fallen off the wagon

Oct 28, 2011 09:05 GMT  ·  By

The other day, word got out that Steven Tyler fell so hard in the shower of his hotel room that he knocked a couple of teeth out and needed stitches on his eyebrow. He phoned in on Matt Lauer's Today to explain what happened.

While in Paraguay with the band on tour, Tyler had an accident in the shower, one that made him black out and sustain serious injuries to his face.

He only canceled one show as he was rushed to the hospital to the emergency room, and was back on stage the next day, rocking out with the band.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop talk that he'd fallen off the wagon from making the rounds. That's not the case, he told Matt Lauer during a conversation over the phone the other day, as the video below will confirm.

Speaking from Argentina, Buenos Aires, Tyler stressed that he got Montezuma's revenge and got violently sick when he stepped in the shower.

He fell and blacked out.

“I went in looking like Baryshnikov. and walked out looking like [boxer] Leon Spinks!” Tyler says of his emergency trip to the hospital.

“Just quite frankly I passed out… I fell on my face, I woke up with the water running on me, not knowing where the hell I was,” he adds.

The incident had nothing to do with his history of abuse, though he completely understands why people would assume that when hearing of what happened to him.

“Being in the program I’m in, it’s something we have to accept. I went public with my problems only to address them straight on – people thinking [I relapsed] is natural and normal. It still bothers me a little, but it’s something I’ll have to deal with the rest of my life,” the rocker says.

The next day after the fall, Tyler was back on stage, performing for his fans. He sported a black eye, but had new teeth put in.

“I wore my sunglasses for my first song, took ‘em off and the crowd roared. Not only did I break my face but we broke the house record – life is beautiful, Matt!” Tyler gushed over the phone.

Check out his interview below.