As first tipped here last week, Aerosmith has been selected as the second mtvICON honoree in celebration of its nearly 30-year career. As with last year’s tribute to Janet Jackson, Aerosmith’s songs will be performed by a host of other acts, including Kid Rock, Train, and Pink, who is expected to cover the group’s 1989 No. 4 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Janie’s Got a Gun.” The event will tape April 14 in Los Angeles and air three days later on MTV.
Jackson herself will offer a “testimonal” at the outset of the broadcast, while Aerosmith will take the stage for the event’s finale. A host of additional participating artists will be announced soon.
Aerosmith’s late ’80s resurgence owed a great deal to MTV exposure for such videos as “Walk This Way,” “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” “Janie’s Got a Gun,” and “Cryin’,” which featured Alicia Silverstone and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv as temptress runaways. That clip was voted as the all-time favorite video by MTV viewers in 1994.
“Aerosmith is one of those very few bands whose influence pre-dates and spans the entire history of MTV,” MTV Entertainment president Brian Graden said in a statement. “They have become a fixture at the network, and we are thrilled to be able to honor them in this fashion for their continuing contributions to music and music video.”
As previously reported, Aerosmith has recorded a handful of new songs that may be released on an EP or an upcoming greatest hits album. The band is also mulling a DVD, a TV concert special, and a contribution to the soundtrack for the summer film “Spider Man.”
