Joey Kramer walked his way off stage on Friday night after Aerosmith accepted its Person of the Year award at the Recording Academy’s annual MusiCares Gala.
That’s right, as his longtime bandmates picked up their instruments and kicked off an explosive four-song set, the 69-year-old drummer quietly exited the stage as required by the law.
Despite filing a lawsuit, which would enable him to perform alongside them, Aerosmith — the defendants — won the controversial legal battle against Kramer on Thursday, meaning his fill-in and loyal drum tech John Douglas would take his place at the prestigious awards ceremony instead.
The lawsuit came shortly after the rest of the band — Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton — determined Kramer was not fit to perform with them at either the MusiCares Gala or the 2020 Grammy Awards following a minor foot injury he sustained in 2019.
Since then, Douglas has held down the duty as full-time drummer for Aerosmith.
Though, because he’s been with the band since its inception in 1970, Kramer was invited to give his own acceptance speech on Friday night.
After frontman Tyler, 71, made his own heartfelt speech and clutched his shoulder tightly, an unimpressed-looking Kramer was given less than 20 seconds to show his gratitude to his supporters.
He said:
“A shout out for love and gratitude, to MusiCares, to all our fans, to my partners, to my forever supportive wife Linda, and to you guys out there in the music industry.”
It was then that Kramer left the Convention Center stage and took a seat beside his wife, Linda Kramer.
As of this writing, it’s unclear whether Kramer will rejoin the Livin’ On the Edge rockers again in the future.
Following the ceremonies, the Rag Doll rockers are set to return to Las Vegas and continue the critically acclaimed Deuces Are Wild residency.
Additional information, tour dates and updates can be found through the official Aerosmith website.