Rock's best laser-light show is in Steven Tyler's throat

Nearly six months into a North American tour, a popped blood vessel on Mr. [Steven Tyler]'s right vocal cord had reduced his singing voice to a hoarse shrill and forced Aerosmith to cancel all 20 of its remaining concerts. The injury was a potential disaster for Mr. Tyler, whose hot-blooded, hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal Asia
Main Author Seward, Zachary M
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hong Kong Dow Jones & Company Inc 17.08.2006
Subjects
Blood vessels
Larynx
Lasers
Otology
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Summary:Nearly six months into a North American tour, a popped blood vessel on Mr. [Steven Tyler]'s right vocal cord had reduced his singing voice to a hoarse shrill and forced Aerosmith to cancel all 20 of its remaining concerts. The injury was a potential disaster for Mr. Tyler, whose hot-blooded, high-pitched tones have defined his 33-year career. Even the slightest tweak in his throat -- the stiffening of a vocal cord or a change in its vibration -- could have forever altered the sound of "Walk This Way," his signature tune. Now, almost five months after his experimental surgery, he declares, "Oh, I'm back in action." He proves it with a series of wild, cascading scales. "I can do the whole Janis Joplin thing," he says. He's working full-time now and Aerosmith has been recording in the studio this month. A new tour begins on Sept. 5. In Mr. Tyler's operation, the goal "was to get the vessel to seal without getting heat outside the vessel," Dr. [Steven M. Zeitels] says. "It's the heat outside the vessel that causes stiffening in the vocal folds."