After approximately 40 years of singing and touring together and, in short, being one of the best and most appreciated rock bands in the history of music, Aerosmith has disbanded. Lead singer Steven Tyler has quit his position as frontman, without as much as saying whether he’ll ever be back, guitarist Joe Perry says in a recent interview cited by ContactMusic.

Reports about Aerosmith going on a hiatus of sorts have been making the rounds for many months now, especially in light of an entire year filled with cancelations, postponements and injuries. In August this year, Tyler broke his shoulder and it is then that things started to go from bad to worse for the band, Perry states, with the lead singer refusing to make contact with the other members or even talk about the possibility of making up for lost time.

Because of this, for all Perry knows, it could very well be that Aerosmith no longer exists. Moreover, it could be that this remains so for ever, he says, much to the disappointment of the millions of fans around the world. “Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don’t know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.” a visibly confused Perry reveals.

Lack of communication is the only responsible for this turn of events, the guitarist further says. “He’s notorious for that. That's one thing I’ve learned to live with. I try to overlook it. I like to pick my battles. Frankly, the last few months I’ve been wanting not to rock the boat. I don’t want him cancelling any more gigs. We really wanted to do these last four. We just kind of didn’t want to call him out or anything and get him anymore [expletive] off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie. So we did the gigs and, like I said, I got off the plane and saw this online. That’s how I know about it... He has had no contact with me or the other band members.” Perry explains.

Even if Tyler really did decide to go his separate way and he’ll never be joining Aerosmith again, fans of the band shouldn’t really despair, the guitarist adds. Granted, you can’t really throw 40 years together out the window and move on, but chances are Tyler will be replaced and the band will continue to make music even without him. Keep an eye on this space for more on this one.