“Toxic Twins”: How Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry Got Their Unsavory Nickname

There are several reasonable assumptions as to how someone might gain the nickname of a “toxic twin.” Maybe it’s a propensity for debauchery, a love affair with hard drugs, or a habit of engaging in unhealthy relationship dynamics. Indeed, even one of these attributes could rightfully earn the descriptor of “toxic.”

For Aerosmith rock legends Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, their “toxic twin” monikers came from a raucous mix of all three. After all, minimalism has never been these rock stars’ strong suit.

How These Rockers Earned The Title “Toxic Twins”

When it came to the hard lifestyle of rock ‘n’ rollers in the 1970s and 80s, Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry were two partying peas in a pod. The musicians developed quite the reputation for their illicit concoctions of alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and other drugs on and off the stage, making the name “toxic twins” seem all the more appropriate.

“We just got high back then. It was a way of life,” Tyler told NME. “I might have done a bit more than others, but I have a problem with that. I’m powerless over the drugs that I love because I’m addicted to music, and music is the strongest drug of all.”

“We just got caught up in it,” he continued. “We were too rich, too young, too dumb. That’s all. I just got caught up in it. I loved it [but] I went too far with it. Joe and I, just to show you where we were before we even touched one drug, we lived on a lake. We’d take a fish tank and put it upside down, and we’d walk along the bottom of the lake. This is what we did. What’s the difference between that and smoking a joint? Nothing.”

Of course, one major difference is that exploring a lake is far less likely to end in jail time. From run-ins with the law to their wild behavior on and off stage, Aerosmith certainly worked hard to create an image of one of the most “bad boy” bands of their time.

Relationship Dynamics Helped Create The Nickname, Too

Still, the likelihood of the Toxic Twins coming onstage awash with various narcotic cocktails isn’t the only way Steven Tyler and Joe Perry earned their nickname. Their volatile interpersonal dynamics helped their moniker stick, too. The other three Aerosmith members, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford, and Joey Kramer, spoke about the two musicians’ complicated relationship in a 2012 interview with CBS News.

“For a long time, when I was first in this band after the show was over, I used to go grab my bag and whatever I had in the dressing room, and I would leave,” Whitford recalled. “I would go change after the show somewhere else, anywhere I could find—a car, a bathroom. I did not want to be in the dressing room. There was stuff flying; chairs were flying; things were being thrown. It was pretty hairy. I mean, these guys are just, like, ripping each other.”

Yet, somewhere amidst the chair-throwing and shouting matches, there was a deep reverence for one another. “Steven has always loved Joe because Joe defines cool,” Hamilton explained. “Joe is the rock star of the band, and Steven respects that so much, and he looks to Joe as a reality check. Steven comes up with a crazy idea; he’s got to know what Joe thinks of it.”

Through all the band fights, dramatic press, break-ups, and reunions, the feelings of love and respect (albeit oddly demonstrated) are mutual. “This is no bulls*** man, [Steven’s] probably my best friend through all of it,” Perry once told Classic Rock magazine. “We just know we’re different people.”

Different people, perhaps, but kindred spirits and toxic twins just the same.

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