Aerosmith’s Joe Perry ‘alert and responsive’ in hospital after taking ill at gig

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry was hospitalised on Saturday night (10th November) after performing with Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 12th Nov 2018

Shortly after joining Billy Joel on stage to play guitar on ‘Walk This Way’, the 68-year-old rock icon experienced difficulty breathing and reportedly collapsed in his dressing room.

Paramedics attended to Joe for 40 minutes backstage and placed a tracheal tube down his throat to clear his air path, before he was taken to hospital.

Joe’s representative Marcee Rondan said that Joe is still in hospital where he is ‘alert and responsive’ and hopes to return to performing live later this month.

The statement reads: "Following a guest performance during Billy Joel’s show last night at Madison Square Garden, Joe Perry experienced shortness of breath and was treated backstage by paramedics who gave the guitarist oxygen and used a tracheal tube to clear his airway before taking him to a hospital.

"This morning Perry remains in the hospital where he is alert and responsive. The Aerosmith guitarist will be unable to appear today at Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp in Florida and apologises to those attending. Perry is expected to return to the road later this month."

In July 2016 Joe was hospitalised after taking ill at a Hollywood Vampires show at the Ford Amphitheater in Brooklyn.

Although unscrupulous gossip magazines and tabloids claimed Joe had a suspected heart attack, Joe was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion at the time. He returned to the stage with Hollywood Vampires 12 days later.

Everyone at Planet Rock wishes Joe a speedy recovery.