title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1657, while Aurangzeb attacked Golconda and Bijapur in the Deccan, the Hindu Maratha warrior, Shivaji, used guerrilla tactics to take control of three Adil Shahi forts formerly under his father's command. With these victories, Shivaji assumed de facto leadership of many independent Maratha clans. The Marathas harried the flanks of the warring Adil Shahis, gaining weapons, forts, and territory. Shivaji's small and ill-equipped army survived an all out Adil Shahi attack, and Shivaji personally killed the Adil Shahi general, Afzal Khan. With this event, the Marathas transformed into a powerful military force, capturing more and more Adil Shahi territories. Shivaji went on to neutralise Mughal power in the region.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1659, Aurangzeb sent his trusted general and maternal uncle Shaista Khan, the Wali in Golconda to recover forts lost to the Maratha rebels. Shaista Khan drove into Maratha territory and took up residence in Pune. But in a daring raid on the governor's palace in Pune during a midnight wedding celebration, led by Shivaji himself, the Marathas killed Shaista Khan's son and Shivaji maimed Shaista Khan by cutting off three fingers of his hand. Shaista Khan, however, survived and was re-appointed the administrator of Bengal going on to become a key commander in the war against the Ahoms.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb next sent general Raja Jai Singh to vanquish the Marathas. Jai Singh besieged the fort of Purandar and fought off all attempts to relieve it. Foreseeing defeat, Shivaji agreed to terms. Jai Singh persuaded Shivaji to visit Aurangzeb at Agra, giving him a personal guarantee of safety. Their meeting at the Mughal court did not go well, however. Shivaji felt slighted at the way he was received, and insulted Aurangzeb by refusing imperial service. For this affront he was detained, but managed to effect a daring escape.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Shivaji returned to the Deccan, and crowned himself "Chhatrapati" or the ruler of the Maratha Kingdom in 1674. Shivaji expanded Maratha control throughout the Deccan until his death in 1680. Shivaji was succeeded by his son, Sambhaji. Militarily and politically, Mughal efforts to control the Deccan continued to fail.


title: Aurangzeb

text: On the other hand, Aurangzeb's third son Akbar left the Mughal court along with a few Muslim Mansabdar supporters and joined Muslim rebels in the Deccan. Aurangzeb in response moved his court to Aurangabad and took over command of the Deccan campaign. The rebels were defeated and Akbar fled south to seek refuge with Sambhaji, Shivaji's successor. More battles ensued, and Akbar fled to Persia and never returned.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In 1689, Aurangzeb's forces captured and executed Sambhaji. His successor Rajaram, later Rajaram's widow Tarabai and their Maratha forces fought individual battles against the forces of the Mughal Empire. Territory changed hands repeatedly during the years (1689–1707) of interminable warfare . As there was no central authority among the Marathas, Aurangzeb was forced to contest every inch of territory, at great cost in lives and money. Even as Aurangzeb drove west, deep into Maratha territory – notably conquering Satara — the Marathas expanded eastwards into Mughal lands – Malwa and Hyderabad. The Marathas also expanded further South into Southern India defeating the independent local rulers there capturing Jinji in Tamil Nadu. Aurangzeb waged continuous war in the Deccan for more than two decades with no resolution. He thus lost about a fifth of his army fighting rebellions led by the Marathas in Deccan India. He travelled a long distance to the Deccan to conquer the Marathas and eventually died at the age of 88, still fighting the Marathas.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb's shift from conventional warfare to anti-insurgency in the Deccan region shifted the paradigm of Mughal military thought. There were conflicts between Marathas and Mughals in Pune, Jinji, Malwa and Vadodara. The Mughal Empire's port city of Surat was sacked twice by the Marathas during the reign of Aurangzeb and the valuable port was in ruins.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Matthew White estimates that about 2.5 million of Aurangzeb's army were killed during the Mughal–Maratha Wars (100,000 annually during a quarter-century), while 2 million civilians in war-torn lands died due to drought, plague and famine.


title: Aurangzeb

text: While Aurangzeb and his brother Shah Shuja had been fighting against each other, the Hindu rulers of Kuch Behar and Assam took advantage of the disturbed conditions in the Mughal Empire, had invaded imperial dominions. For three years they were not attacked, but in 1660 Mir Jumla II, the viceroy of Bengal, was ordered to recover the lost territories.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The Mughals set out in November 1661. Within weeks they occupied the capital of Kuch Behar, which they annexed. Leaving a detachment to garrison it, the Mughal army began to retake their territories in Assam. Mir Jumla II advanced on Garhgaon, the capital of the Ahom kingdom, and reached it on 17 March 1662. The ruler, Raja Sutamla, had fled before his approach. The Mughals captured 82 elephants, 300,000 rupees in cash, 1000 ships, and 173 stores of rice.


title: Aurangzeb

text: On his way back to Dacca, in March 1663, Mir Jumla II died of natural causes. Skirmishes continued between the Mughals and Ahoms after the rise of Chakradhwaj Singha, who refused to pay further indemnity to the Mughals and during the wars that continued the Mughals suffered great hardships. Munnawar Khan emerged as a leading figure and is known to have supplied food to vulnerable Mughal forces in the region near Mathurapur. Although the Mughals under the command of Syed Firoz Khan the Faujdar at Guwahati were overrun by two Ahom armies in 1667, but they continued to hold and maintain presence in their eastern territories even after the battle of Saraighat in 1671.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The battle of Saraighat was fought in 1671 between the Mughal empire (led by the Kachwaha king, Raja Ramsingh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati. Although much weaker, the Ahom Army defeated the Mughal Army by brilliant uses of the terrain, clever diplomatic negotiations to buy time, guerrilla tactics, psychological warfare, military intelligence and by exploiting the sole weakness of the Mughal forces—its navy.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The battle of Saraighat was the last battle in the last major attempt by the Mughals to extend their empire into Assam. Though the Mughals managed to regain Guwahati briefly after a later Borphukan deserted it, the Ahoms wrested control in the battle of Itakhuli in 1682 and maintained it till the end of their rule.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In May 1672, the Satnami sect obeying the commandments of an "old toothless woman" (according to Mughal accounts) organised a massive revolt in the agricultural heartlands of the Mughal Empire. The Satnamis were known to have shaved off their heads and even eyebrows and had temples in many regions of Northern India. They began a large-scale rebellion 75 miles southwest of Delhi.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The Satnamis believed they were invulnerable to Mughal bullets and believed they could multiply in any region they entered. The Satnamis initiated their march upon Delhi and overran small-scale Mughal infantry units.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb responded by organising a Mughal army of 10,000 troops and artillery, and dispatched detachments of his own personal Mughal imperial guards to carry out several tasks. To boost Mughal morale, Aurangzeb wrote Islamic prayers, made amulets, and drew designs that would become emblems in the Mughal Army. This rebellion would have a serious aftermath effect on the Punjab.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, like his predecessors was opposed to forced conversion of the local population as he considered it wrong. Approached by Kashmiri Pandits to help them retain their faith and avoid forced religious conversions, Guru Tegh Bahadur sent a message to the emperor that if he could convert Teg Bagadur to Islam, every Hindu will become a Muslim. In response, Aurangzeb ordered arrest of the Guru. He was then brought to Delhi and tortured so as to convert him. On his refusal to convert, he was beheaded in 1675.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In response, Guru Tegh Bahadur's son and successor, Guru Gobind Singh, further militarised his followers, starting with the establishment of Khalsa in 1699, eight years before Aurangzeb's death. In 1705, Guru Gobind Singh sent a letter entitled "Zafarnamah", which accused Aurangzeb of cruelty and betraying Islam. The letter caused him much distress and remorse. Guru Gobind Singh's formation of Khalsa in 1699 led to the establishment of the Sikh Confederacy and later Sikh Empire.


title: Aurangzeb

text: The Pashtun revolt in 1672 under the leadership of the warrior poet Khushal Khan Khattak of Kabul, was triggered when soldiers under the orders of the Mughal Governor Amir Khan allegedly molested women of the Pashtun tribes in modern-day Kunar Province of Afghanistan. The Safi tribes retaliated against the soldiers. This attack provoked a reprisal, which triggered a general revolt of most of tribes. Attempting to reassert his authority, Amir Khan led a large Mughal Army to the Khyber Pass, where the army was surrounded by tribesmen and routed, with only four men, including the Governor, managing to escape.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb's incursions into the Pashtun areas were described by Khushal Khan Khattak as "Black is the Mughal's heart towards all of us Pathans". Aurangzeb employed the scorched earth policy, sending soldiers who massacred, looted and burnt many villages. Aurangzeb also proceeded to use bribery to turn the Pashtun tribes against each other, with the aim that they would distract a unified Pashtun challenge to Mughal authority, and the impact of this was to leave a lasting legacy of mistrust among the tribes.


title: Aurangzeb

text: After that the revolt spread, with the Mughals suffering a near total collapse of their authority in the Pashtun belt. The closure of the important Attock-Kabul trade route along the Grand Trunk road was particularly disastrous. By 1674, the situation had deteriorated to a point where Aurangzeb camped at Attock to personally take charge. Switching to diplomacy and bribery along with force of arms, the Mughals eventually split the rebels and partially suppressed the revolt, although they never managed to wield effective authority outside the main trade route.


title: Aurangzeb

text: By 1689, the conquest of Golconda, Mughal victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to 4 million square kilometres, with a population estimated to be over 158 million. But this supremacy was short-lived. Jos Gommans, Professor of Colonial and Global History at the University of Leiden, says that "... the highpoint of imperial centralisation under emperor Aurangzeb coincided with the start of the imperial downfall."


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb constructed a small marble mosque known as the Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) in the Red Fort complex in Delhi. However, his constant warfare, especially with the Marathas, drove his empire to the brink of bankruptcy just as much as the wasteful personal spending and opulence of his predecessors.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Even when ill and dying, Aurangzeb made sure that the populace knew he was still alive, for if they had thought otherwise then the turmoil of another war of succession was likely. He died at his military camp in Bhingar near Ahmednagar on 3 March 1707 at the age of 88, having outlived many of his children. He had only 300 rupees with him which were later given to charity as per his instructions and he prior to his death requested not to spend extravagantly on his funeral but to keep it simple.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Brown writes that after his death, "a string of weak emperors, wars of succession, and coups by noblemen heralded the irrevocable weakening of Mughal power". She notes that the populist but "fairly old-fashioned" explanation for the decline is that there was a reaction to Aurangzeb's oppression. Although Aurangzeb died without appointing a successor, he instructed his three sons to divide the empire among themselves. His sons failed to reach a satisfactory agreement and fought against each other in a war of succession. Aurangzeb's immediate successor was his third son Azam Shah, who was defeated and killed in June 1707 at the battle of Jajau by the army of Bahadur Shah I, the second son of Aurangzeb. Both because of Aurangzeb's over-extension and because of Bahadur Shah's weak military and leadership qualities, entered a period of terminal decline. Immediately after Bahadur Shah occupied the throne, the Maratha Empire – which Aurangzeb had held at bay, inflicting high human and monetary costs even on his own empire – consolidated and launched effective invasions of Mughal territory, seizing power from the weak emperor. Within decades of Aurangzeb's death, the Mughal Emperor had little power beyond the walls of Delhi.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb's rule has been the subject of praise, though he has also been described as the most controversial ruler in Indian history. During his lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to 4 million square kilometres, and he ruled over a population estimated to be over 158 million subjects. His critics argue that his ruthlessness and religious bigotry made him unsuitable to rule the mixed population of his empire. Some critics assert that the persecution of Shias, Sufis and non-Muslims to impose practices of orthodox Islamic state, such as imposition of sharia and "jizya" religious tax on non-Muslims, doubling of custom duties on Hindus while abolishing it for Muslims, executions of Muslims and non-Muslims alike, and destruction of temples eventually led to numerous rebellions. G. N. Moin Shakir and Sarma Festschrift argue that he often used political opposition as pretext for religious persecution, and that, as a result, groups of Jats, Marathas, Sikhs, Satnamis and Pashtuns rose against him.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Multiple interpretations of Aurangzeb's life and reign over the years by critics have led to a very complicated legacy. Some argue that his policies abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism and religious tolerance, citing his introduction of the "jizya" tax and other policies based on Islamic ethics; his demolition of Hindu temples; the executions of his elder brother Dara Shikoh, King Sambhaji of Maratha and Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur and the prohibition and supervision of behaviour and activities that are forbidden in Islam such as gambling, fornication, and consumption of alcohol and narcotics. At the same time, some historians question the historical authenticity of the claims of his critics, arguing that his destruction of temples has been exaggerated, and noting that he built more temples than he destroyed, paid for their maintenance, employed significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors, and opposed bigotry against Hindus and Shia Muslims.


title: Aurangzeb

text: In Pakistan, author Haroon Khalid writes that, "Aurangzeb is presented as a hero who fought and expanded the frontiers of the Islamic empire" and "is imagined to be a true believer who removed corrupt practices from religion and the court, and once again purified the empire." The academic Munis Faruqui also opines that the "Pakistani state and its allies in the religious and political establishments include him in the pantheon of premodern Muslim heroes, especially lauding him for his militarism, personal piety, and seeming willingness to accommodate Islamic morality within state goals."


title: Aurangzeb

text: Muhammad Iqbal, considered the spiritual founder of Pakistan, compared him favorably to the prophet Abraham for his warfare against Akbar's "Din-i Ilahi" and idolatry, while Iqbal Singh Sevea, in his book on the political philosophy of the thinker, says that "Iqbal considered that the life and activities of Aurangzeb constituted the starting point of Muslim nationality in India." Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, in his funeral oration, hailed M.A. Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, to be the greatest Muslim since Aurangzeb. Pakistani-American academic Akbar Ahmed described President Zia-ul-Haq, known for his Islamization drive, as "conceptually ... a spiritual descendent of Aurangzeb" because Zia had an orthodox, legalistic view of Islam.


title: Aurangzeb

text: Beyond the individual appreciations, Aurangzeb is seminal to Pakistan's national self-consciousness, as historian Ayesha Jalal, while referring to the Pakistani textbooks controversy, mentions M. D. Zafar's "A Text Book of Pakistan Studies" where we can read that, under Aurangzeb, "Pakistan spirit gathered in strength", while his death "weakened the Pakistan spirit." Another historian from Pakistan, Mubarak Ali, also looking at the textbooks, and while noting that Akbar "is conveniently ignored and not mentioned in any school textbook from class one to matriculation", contrasts him with Aurangzeb, who "appears in different textbooks of Social Studies and Urdu language as an orthodox and pious Muslim copying the Holy Quran and sewing caps for his livelihood."


title: Aurangzeb

text: This image of Aurangzeb is not limited to Pakistan's official historiography. Historian Audrey Truschke points out that BJP and other Hindu nationalists regard him as Muslim zealot. Nehru claimed that, due to his reversal of the cultural and religious syncretism of the previous Mughal emperors, Aurangzeb acted "more as a Moslem than an Indian ruler".


title: Aurangzeb

text: The epithet Aurangzeb means 'Ornament of the Throne'. His chosen title Alamgir translates to Conqueror of the World.


title: Aurangzeb

text: "Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Hazrat Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I",


title: Aurangzeb

text: Aurangzeb had also been attributed various other titles including "Caliph of The Merciful", "Monarch of Islam", and "Living Custodian of God".


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: "Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe", or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the heads of four United States Presidents recommended by Borglum: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively. The memorial park covers and the mountain itself has an elevation of above sea level.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The sculptor and tribal representatives settled on Mount Rushmore, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Doane Robinson wanted it to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse. Borglum believed that the sculpture should have broader appeal and chose the four presidents.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding. Construction began in 1927 and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Sometimes referred to as the "Shrine of Democracy", Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore was conceived with the intention of creating a site to lure tourists, representing "not only the wild grandeur of its local geography but also the triumph of western civilization over that geography through its anthropomorphic representation." Though for the latest occupants of the land at the time, the Lakota Sioux, as well as other tribes, the monument in their view "came to epitomize the loss of their sacred lands and the injustices they've suffered under the U.S. government." Under the Treaty of 1868, the U.S. government promised the territory, including the entirety of the Black Hills, to the Sioux "so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase." After the discovery of gold on the land, American settlers migrated to the area in the 1870s. The federal government then forced the Sioux to relinquish the Black Hills portion of their reservation.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The four presidential faces were said to be carved into the granite with the intention of symbolizing "an accomplishment born, planned, and created in the minds and by the hands of Americans for Americans".


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore is known to the Lakota Sioux as "The Six Grandfathers" (Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe) or "Cougar Mountain" (Igmútȟaŋka Pahá); but American settlers knew it variously as Cougar Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and Keystone Cliffs. As Six Grandfathers, the mountain was on the route that Lakota leader Black Elk took in a spiritual journey that culminated at Black Elk Peak. Following a series of military campaigns from 1876 to 1878, the United States asserted control over the area, a claim that is still disputed on the basis of the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Beginning with a prospecting expedition in 1885 with David Swanzey (husband of Carrie Ingalls), and Bill Challis, wealthy investor Charles E. Rushmore began visiting the area regularly on prospecting and hunting trips. He repeatedly joked with colleagues about naming the mountain after himself. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially recognized the name "Mount Rushmore" in June 1930.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to promote tourism in South Dakota. In 1924, Robinson persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to travel to the Black Hills region to ensure the carving could be accomplished. The original plan was to make the carvings in granite pillars known as the Needles. However, Borglum realized that the eroded Needles were too thin to support sculpting. He chose Mount Rushmore, a grander location, partly because it faced southeast and enjoyed maximum exposure to the sun.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Borglum had been involved in sculpting the Stone Mountain Memorial to Confederate leaders in Georgia, but was in disagreement with the officials there.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck and Congressman William Williamson of South Dakota introduced bills in early 1925 for permission to use federal land, which passed easily. South Dakota legislation had less support, only passing narrowly on its third attempt, which Governor Carl Gunderson signed into law on March 5, 1925. Private funding came slowly and Borglum invited President Calvin Coolidge to an August 1927 dedication ceremony, at which he promised federal funding. Congress passed the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act, signed by Coolidge, which authorized up to $250,000 in matching funds. The 1929 presidential transition to Herbert Hoover delayed funding until an initial federal match of $54,670.56 was acquired.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941, Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal carvings of United States Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history. These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. The carving of Mount Rushmore involved the use of dynamite, followed by the process of "honeycombing", a process where workers drill holes close together, allowing small pieces to be removed by hand. In total, about of rock were blasted off the mountainside. The image of Thomas Jefferson was originally intended to appear in the area at Washington's right, but after the work there was begun, the rock was found to be unsuitable, so the work on the Jefferson figure was dynamited, and a new figure was sculpted to Washington's left.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The chief carver of the mountain was Luigi Del Bianco, an artisan and stonemason in Port Chester, New York. Del Bianco emigrated to the U.S. from Friuli in Italy and was chosen to work on this project because of his understanding of sculptural language and ability to imbue emotion in the carved portraits.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In 1933, the National Park Service took Mount Rushmore under its jurisdiction. Julian Spotts helped with the project by improving its infrastructure. For example, he had the tram upgraded so it could reach the top of Mount Rushmore for the ease of workers. By July 4, 1934, Washington's face had been completed and was dedicated. The face of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 1936, and the face of Abraham Lincoln was dedicated on September 17, 1937. In 1937, a bill was introduced in Congress to add the head of civil-rights leader Susan B. Anthony, but a rider was passed on an appropriations bill requiring federal funds be used to finish only those heads that had already been started at that time. In 1939, the face of Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The Sculptor's Studio – a display of unique plaster models and tools related to the sculpting – was built in 1939 under the direction of Borglum. Borglum died from an embolism in March 1941. His son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the project. Originally, it was planned that the figures would be carved from head to waist, but insufficient funding forced the carving to end. Borglum had also planned a massive panel in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase commemorating in eight-foot-tall gilded letters the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Louisiana Purchase, and seven other territorial acquisitions from the Alaska purchase to the Panama Canal Zone. In total, the entire project cost US$989,992.32 (equivalent to $ in ).


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Harold Spitznagel and Cecil Doty designed the original visitor center, finished in 1957. These structures were part of the Mission 66 effort to improve visitors' facilities at national parks and monuments across the country.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Ten years of redevelopment work culminated with the completion of extensive visitor facilities and sidewalks in 1998, such as a Visitor Center, the Lincoln Borglum Museum, and the Presidential Trail. Maintenance of the memorial requires mountain climbers to monitor and seal cracks annually. Due to budget constraints, the memorial is not regularly cleaned to remove lichens. However, on July 8, 2005, Alfred Kärcher, a German manufacturer of pressure washing and steam cleaning machines, conducted a free cleanup operation which lasted several weeks, using pressurized water at over .


title: Mount Rushmore

text: On October 15, 1966, Mount Rushmore was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 500-word essay giving the history of the United States by Nebraska student William Andrew Burkett was selected as the college-age group winner in a 1934 competition, and that essay was placed on the Entablature on a bronze plate in 1973. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In 1937, when the sculpture was not yet complete, a bill in Congress supporting the addition of women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony failed. When the sculpture was completed in 1941, the sculptors said that the remaining rock was not suitable for additional carvings. This stance was shared by RESPEC, an engineering firm charged with monitoring the stability of the rock in 1989. However, proposals of additional sculptures have been made regardless. These include John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963, and Ronald Reagan in 1985 and 1999 – the latter proposal receiving a debate in Congress at the time. Barack Obama was asked about his own potential addition in 2008 and he joked that his ears were too large.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Donald Trump has on occasion expressed interest in his own addition to the mountain. During a 2017 rally in Ohio, he said "I'd ask whether or not you some day think I will be on Mount Rushmore. If I did it joking – totally joking, having fun – the fake news media will say, ‘He believes he should be on Mount Rushmore.’ So I won't say it.” By the 2018 account of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Trump described the potential addition as his "dream" in conversation. In August 2020 it was alleged that the previous year, White House aides working for President Donald Trump made contact with Noem the previous year about the process of adding additional presidents, including Trump, to the monument. Trump denied the accusation on his official Twitter account, saying he never "suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!"


title: Mount Rushmore

text: According to a survey of political science experts conducted by "The New York Times" in 2018, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the most popular choice for addition to Mount Rushmore, regardless of party affiliation. In total, 66% of respondents would choose Roosevelt, followed by Barack Obama at 7% and Ronald Reagan at 5%. Among Democrats, Roosevelt was chosen by 75%, followed by Obama at 11%. Among Republicans, Roosevelt was chosen by 43%, followed by Reagan at 19%. Among Independents, Roosevelt was chosen by 57%, followed by both Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower at 11%.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Tourism is South Dakota's second-largest industry, and Mount Rushmore is the state's top tourist attraction. 2,185,447 people visited the park in 2012.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The popularity of the location, as with many other national monuments, derives from its immediate recognizability; "there are no substitutes for iconic resources such as the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, or Mount Rushmore. These locations are one of a kind places". However, Mount Rushmore also provides access to a surrounding environment of wilderness, which distinguishes it from the typical proximity of national monuments to urban centers like Washington, D.C., and New York City.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In the 1950s and 1960s, local Lakota Sioux elder Benjamin Black Elk (son of medicine man Black Elk, who had been present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn) was known as the "Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore", posing for photographs with thousands of tourists daily in his native attire. The South Dakota State Historical Society notes that he was one of the most photographed people in the world over that 20-year period.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Borglum originally envisioned a grand Hall of Records where America's greatest historical documents and artifacts could be protected and shown to tourists. He managed to start the project, but cut only 70 feet (21 m) into the rock before work stopped in 1939 to focus on the faces. In 1998, an effort to complete Borglum's vision resulted in a repository being constructed inside the mouth of the cave housing 16 enamel panels that contained biographical and historical information about Mount Rushmore as well as the texts of the documents Borglum wanted to preserve there. The vault consists of a teakwood box (housing the 16 panels) inside of a titanium vault placed in the ground with a granite capstone. The text found on the 16 panels can be found below.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The ongoing conservation of the site is overseen by the National Park Service. Physical efforts to conserve the monument have included replacement of the sealant applied originally to cracks in the stone by Gutzon Borglum, which had proved ineffective at providing water resistance. The components of Borglum's sealant included linseed oil, granite dust, and white lead, but a modern silicone replacement for the cracks is now used, disguised with granite dust.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In 1998, electronic monitoring devices were installed to track movement in the topology of the sculpture to an accuracy of three millimeters. The site was digitally recorded in 2009 using a terrestrial laser scanning method as part of the international Scottish Ten project, providing a high-resolution record to aid the conservation of the site. This data was made publicly accessible online.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The flora and fauna of Mount Rushmore are similar to those of the rest of the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Birds including the turkey vulture, golden eagle, bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, swallows and white-throated swifts fly around Mount Rushmore, occasionally making nesting spots in the ledges of the mountain. Smaller birds, including songbirds, nuthatches, woodpeckers and flycatchers inhabit the surrounding pine forests. Terrestrial mammals include the mouse, least chipmunk, red squirrel, skunk, porcupine, raccoon, beaver, badger, coyote, bighorn sheep, bobcat, elk, mule deer, yellow-bellied marmot, and American bison. The striped chorus frog, western chorus frog, and northern leopard frog also inhabit the area, along with several species of snake. Grizzly Bear Brook and Starling Basin Brook, the two streams in the memorial, support fish such as the longnose dace and the brook trout. Mountain goats are not indigenous to the region. Those living near Mount Rushmore are descendants of a tribe that Canada gifted to Custer State Park in 1924, which later escaped.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: At lower elevations, coniferous trees, mainly the ponderosa pine, surround most of the monument, providing shade from the sun. Other trees include the bur oak, the Black Hills spruce, and the cottonwood. Nine species of shrubs grow near Mount Rushmore. There is also a wide variety of wildflowers, including especially the snapdragon, sunflower, and violet. Towards higher elevations, plant life becomes sparser. However, only approximately five percent of the plant species found in the Black Hills are indigenous to the region.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The area receives about of precipitation on average per year, enough to support abundant animal and plant life. Trees and other plants help to control surface runoff. Dikes, seeps, and springs help to dam up water that is flowing downhill, providing watering spots for animals. In addition, stones like sandstone and limestone help to hold groundwater, creating aquifers.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: A 2016 investigation by the U.S. Geological Survey found unusually high concentrations of perchlorate in the surface water and groundwater of the area. A sample collected from a stream had a maximum perchlorate concentration of 54 micrograms per liter, roughly 270 times higher than samples taken from locations outside the area. The report concluded the probable cause of the contamination was the aerial fireworks displays that had taken place on Independence Days from 1998 to 2009. The National Park Service also reported that at least 27 forest fires around Mount Rushmore in that same period (1998 to 2009) have been caused by fireworks displays.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: A study of the fire scars present in tree ring samples indicates that forest fires occur in the ponderosa forests surrounding Mount Rushmore around every 27 years. Large fires are not common. Most events have been ground fires that serve to clear forest debris. The area is a climax community. Recent pine beetle infestations have threatened the forest.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore is largely composed of granite. The memorial is carved on the northwest margin of the Black Elk Peak granite batholith in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so the geologic formations of the heart of the Black Hills region are also evident at Mount Rushmore. The batholith magma intruded into the pre-existing mica schist rocks during the Proterozoic, 1.6 billion years ago. Coarse grained pegmatite dikes are associated with the granite intrusion of Black Elk Peak and are visibly lighter in color, thus explaining the light-colored streaks on the foreheads of the presidents.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The Black Hills granites were exposed to erosion during the Neoproterozoic, but were later buried by sandstone and other sediments during the Cambrian. Remaining buried throughout the Paleozoic, they were re-exposed again during the Laramide orogeny around 70 million years ago. The Black Hills area was uplifted as an elongated geologic dome. Subsequent erosion stripped the granite of the overlying sediments and the softer adjacent schist. Some schist does remain and can be seen as the darker material just below the sculpture of Washington.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The tallest mountain in the region is Black Elk Peak (). Borglum selected Mount Rushmore as the site for several reasons. The rock of the mountain is composed of smooth, fine-grained granite. The durable granite erodes only every 10,000 years, thus was more than sturdy enough to support the sculpture and its long-term exposure. The mountain's height of above sea level made it suitable, and because it faces the southeast, the workers also had the advantage of sunlight for most of the day.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: It is not possible to add another president to the memorial, because the rock that surrounds the existing faces is not suitable for additional carving, and because if additional sculpting work were done, that might create instabilities in the existing carvings.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The Mount Rushmore area is underlain by well drained alfisol soils of very gravelly loam (Mocmount) to silt loam (Buska) texture, brown to dark grayish brown.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore has a dry-winter humid continental climate ("Dwb" in the Köppen climate classification). It is inside a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone of 5a, meaning certain plant life in the area can withstand a low temperature of no less than .


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The two wettest months of the year are May and June. Orographic lift causes brief but strong afternoon thunderstorms during the summer.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Mount Rushmore has been depicted in multiple films, comic books, and television series. Its functions vary from settings for action scenes to the site of hidden locations. Its most famous appearance is as the location of the final chase scene in the 1959 film "North by Northwest." It is used as a secret base of operations by the protagonists in the 2004 film "", and the secret underground city of Cíbola is located there in the 2007 film "". In some films, the presidential faces are replaced with others; examples include the 1980 film "Superman II" and the 1996 film "Mars Attacks!" where the villains add their faces to the monument, and the 2003 film "Head of State" where the newly elected president's face is added. In works showing attacks on landmarks to signify the scope of a threat, Mount Rushmore is a common target; examples include the aforementioned facial replacements in "Superman II" and "Mars Attacks!" as well as natural disasters in works like the 2006 miniseries "" and terrorist attacks as in the 1997 film "The Peacekeeper". An atypical representation of the monument appears in the 2013 film "Nebraska", where instead of being treated with reverence it is criticized for being unfinished.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) had granted the Black Hills to the Lakota people in perpetuity, but the United States took the area from the tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876. Members of the American Indian Movement led an occupation of the monument in 1971, naming it "Mount Crazy Horse", and Lakota holy man John Fire Lame Deer planted a prayer staff on top of the mountain. Lame Deer said that the staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces "which shall remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled."


title: Mount Rushmore

text: Construction on the Crazy Horse Memorial began in 1940 elsewhere in the Black Hills. Ostensibly to commemorate the Native American leader and as a response to Mount Rushmore, if completed it would be larger than Mount Rushmore. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has rejected offers of federal funds. Its construction has the support of some Lakota chiefs, but it is the subject of controversy, even among Native American tribes.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The 1980 United States Supreme Court decision "United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians" ruled that the Sioux had not received just compensation for their land in the Black Hills, which includes Mount Rushmore. The court proposed $102 million as compensation for the loss of the Black Hills. This compensation was valued at $1.3 billion in 2011, and – with accumulated interest – nearly $2 billion in 2021. In 2020, Oglala Lakota Nation citizen and Indigenous activist Nick Tilsen explained that his people would not accept a settlement, "because we won't settle for anything less than the full return of our lands as stipulated by the treaties our nations signed and agreed upon."


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In 2004, Gerard Baker was appointed superintendent of the park, the first and so far only Native American in that role. Baker stated that he will open up more "avenues of interpretation", and that the four presidents are "only one avenue and only one focus."


title: Mount Rushmore

text: On July 3, 2020, scores of activists demonstrated when President Donald Trump held a campaign rally at Mount Rushmore. The foremost message was that Indigenous people want their land back, pursuant to the ongoing dispute of the Black Hills land claim. Twenty people were arrested.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: On August 11, 1952, the U.S. Post Office issued the Mount Rushmore Memorial 3-cent commemorative stamp on the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. On January 2, 1974, a 26-cent airmail stamp depicting the monument was also issued. In 1991 the United States Mint released commemorative silver dollar, half-dollar, and five-dollar coins celebrating the 50th anniversary of the monument's dedication, and the sculpture was the main subject of the 2006 South Dakota state quarter.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: In music, American composer Michael Daugherty's 2010 piece for chorus and orchestra, "Mount Rushmore," depicts each of the four presidents in separate movements. The piece sets texts by George Washington, William Billings, Thomas Jefferson, Maria Cosway, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. By contrast, the song, "Little Snakes", by Protest The Hero, "addresses the violent colonial history involved in the sculpting of Mount Rushmore", critiquing the monument as a symbol of colonialism, referencing the genocide of indigenous peoples and the ownership of slaves by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.


title: Mount Rushmore

text: The Washington Nationals baseball club uses large foam rubber depictions of the "Rushmore Four" in both their marketing campaigns and in a series of in-stadium promotions such as the Presidents Race.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: Virgin River is an American romantic drama streaming television series, produced by Reel World Management, filmed in British Columbia, Canada, and based on the "Virgin River" novels by Robyn Carr. The first season premiered on Netflix on December 6, 2019. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth and fifth season. The fourth season was released on July 20, 2022.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: "Virgin River" follows Melinda "Mel" Monroe, who answers an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote Northern California town of Virgin River, thinking it will be the perfect place to start fresh and leave her painful memories behind. But she soon discovers that small-town living isn't quite as simple as she expected.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: On September 27, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was based on the "Virgin River" book series by Robyn Carr with executive producers: Sue Tenney, Roma Roth, and Chris Perry. Tenney was also set to serve as the series' showrunner with Reel World Management acting as the Production company involved in the series. On December 20, 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a 10-episode second season. On December 18, 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a 10-episode third season. On September 20, 2021, Netflix renewed the series for a 12-episode fourth and fifth season. On July 26 2022, it was reported that Patrick Sean Smith replaced Sue Tenney as showrunner.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: On December 19, 2018, it was reported that Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Tim Matheson, and Annette O'Toole had been cast in series regular roles. Additionally, it was further reported that Jenny Cooper, David Cubitt, Lexa Doig, Daniel Gillies, Lauren Hammersley, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Colin Lawrence, Trevor Lerner, and Ian Tracey had joined the cast in an undisclosed capacity. On May 29, 2020, Sarah Dugdale joined the second season as a series regular while Grayson Gurnsey has been promoted as a series regular for the second season. On June 11, 2020, Benjamin Hollingsworth was promoted to a series regular for the second season. Upon the third season renewal announcement, Zibby Allen was cast a new series regular and Stacey Farber was cast in a recurring role. On October 25, 2021, Mark Ghanimé and Kai Bradbury joined cast as new series regulars for the fourth season.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: Principal photography for the series' first season commenced on December 3, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia and ended on March 26, 2019. The series was also filmed on location in Snug Cove, New Westminster, Squamish, Agassiz, and Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Filming for the second season began on September 9, 2019 and ended on December 17, 2019. Filming for the fourth season ended on December 7, 2021. Filming for the fifth season began on July 18 and concluded on November 21, 2022.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: The community of Virgin River is actually Snug Cove, Bowen Island "with establishing shots including the local library, main streets and Artisan Lane", according to one report. The Watershed Grill, in Brackendale, British Columbia stands in for Jack's Grill; some of the scenes involving Melinda and Jack were filmed in Squamish, near the river. The waterfalls in the show is in the Shannon Falls Provincial Park. Some scenes were filmed in Burnaby at Fraser Foreshore Park and at Port Coquitlam, both near Vancouver. The cabin in the series is the caretaker’s house in Murdo Frazer Park, in North Vancouver; this site has been used by other productions as well. Doc Mullins' practice is a Victorian home in New Westminster.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: The first season premiered on December 6, 2019. The second season premiered on November 27, 2020. The third season was released on July 9, 2021. The fourth season premiered on July 20, 2022.


title: Virgin River (TV series)

text: On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 90% with an average rating of 6.30/10, based on 10 critic ratings. The website's critics consensus reads, "Gentle as a babbling brook—and just as exciting, for better or worse—"Virgin River"s sophomore season offers up more of the comfort viewing that fans have come to crave." On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 63% with an average rating of 6/10, based on 8 critic ratings. The fourth season holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith is an American rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whitford (guitar). Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has also incorporated elements of pop rock, heavy metal, glam metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many subsequent rock artists. They are sometimes referred to as "the Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". The primary songwriting team of Tyler and Perry is often known as the "Toxic Twins".


title: Aerosmith

text: Perry and Hamilton, originally in a band together called the Jam Band, met up with Tyler, Kramer, and guitarist Ray Tabano, and formed Aerosmith; in 1971, Tabano was replaced by Whitford. They released a string of multi-platinum albums starting with their eponymous debut in 1973, followed by "Get Your Wings" in 1974. The band broke into the mainstream with "Toys in the Attic" (1975) and "Rocks" (1976). "Draw the Line" and "Night in the Ruts" followed in 1977 and 1979. Throughout the 1970s, the band toured extensively and charted a dozen Hot 100 singles, including their first Top 40 hit "Sweet Emotion" and the Top 10 hits "Dream On" and "Walk This Way". By the end of the decade, they were among the most popular hard rock bands in the world and developed a following of fans, often referred to as the "Blue Army". Drug addiction and internal conflict led to the departures of Perry and Whitford in 1979 and 1981.


title: Aerosmith

text: The band did not fare well and the album "Rock in a Hard Place" (1982) failed to match previous successes.


title: Aerosmith

text: Perry and Whitford returned to Aerosmith in 1984. After a comeback tour, they recorded "Done with Mirrors" (1985), which did not meet commercial expectations. It was not until a 1986 collaboration with rap group Run–D.M.C. on a remake of "Walk This Way", and the 1987 multi-platinum release, "Permanent Vacation", that they regained their previous level of popularity. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the band won numerous awards for music from the multi-platinum albums "Pump" (1989), "Get a Grip" (1993), and "Nine Lives" (1997), while they embarked on their most extensive concert tours to date. Their biggest hits during this period included "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "Rag Doll", "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", "What it Takes", "Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", and "Crazy". The band also filmed popular music videos and made notable appearances in television, film, and video games. In 1998, they achieved their first number-one hit with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from and the following year, their roller coaster attraction opened at Walt Disney World. Their comeback has been described as one of the most remarkable and spectacular in rock history. Additional albums "Just Push Play" (which included the hit "Jaded"), "Honkin' on Bobo" (a collection of blues covers), and "Music from Another Dimension!" followed in 2001, 2004, and 2012. In 2008, they released "", which is considered to be the best-selling band-centric video game. After five decades, the band continues to tour and record music. From 2019–2022, the band had a , which was interrupted from 2020–2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith is the best-selling American hard rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 85 million records in the United States. With 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum albums, they hold the record for the most total certifications by an American group and are tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American group. They have achieved twenty-one Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100, nine number-one Mainstream Rock hits, four Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, and ten MTV Video Music Awards. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and were ranked number 57 and 30, respectively, on "Rolling Stone"s and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2013, Tyler and Perry were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2020, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1964, Steven Tyler formed his own band called the Strangeurs—later Chain Reaction—in Yonkers, New York. Meanwhile, Perry and Hamilton formed the Jam Band (commonly known as "Joe Perry's Jam Band"), which was based on free-form and blues. Hamilton and Perry moved to Boston, Massachusetts in September 1969. There they met Joey Kramer, a drummer from Yonkers, New York. Kramer knew Tyler and had always hoped to play in a band with him. Kramer, a Berklee College of Music student, decided to leave the school, and joined Jam Band.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1970, Chain Reaction and Jam Band played at the same gig. Tyler immediately loved Jam Band's sound, and wanted to combine the two bands. In October 1970, the bands met up again and considered the proposition. Tyler, who had been a drummer and backup singer in Chain Reaction, adamantly refused to play drums in this new band, insisting that he would take part only if he could be frontman and lead vocalist. The others agreed, and a new band was formed. The band moved into a home together at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, where they wrote and rehearsed music together and relaxed in between shows.


title: Aerosmith

text: The members of the band reportedly spent afternoons getting high and watching "Three Stooges" reruns. One day, they had a post-Stooges meeting to try to come up with a name. Kramer said that, when he was in school, he would write the word "aerosmith" all over his notebooks. The name had popped into his head after listening to Harry Nilsson's album "Aerial Ballet", which featured jacket art of a circus performer jumping out of a biplane. Initially, Kramer's bandmates were unimpressed; they all thought he was referring to the Sinclair Lewis novel they were required to read in high school English class. "No, not Arrowsmith," Kramer explained. "A-E-R-O...Aerosmith." The band settled upon this name after also considering "the Hookers" and "Spike Jones." At some point prior to the weekend of December 25, 1971, they were known as "Fox Chase."


title: Aerosmith

text: Soon, the band hired Ray Tabano, a childhood friend of Tyler, as rhythm guitarist and began playing local shows. Aerosmith played their first gig in Mendon, Massachusetts at Nipmuc Regional High School (now Miscoe Hill Middle School) on November 6, 1970. In 1971, Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford, who also attended the Berklee School of Music, and was formerly a member of the band Earth Inc. Whitford, from Reading, Massachusetts, had already played at Reading's AW Coolidge Middle School. Other than a period from July 1979 to April 1984, the line-up of Tyler, Perry, Hamilton, Kramer, and Whitford has stayed the same.


title: Aerosmith

text: After forming the band and finalizing the lineup in 1971, the band started to garner some local success doing live shows. Originally booked through the Ed Malhoit Agency, the band signed a promotion deal with Frank Connelly, and eventually secured a management deal with David Krebs and Steve Leber in 1972. Krebs and Leber invited Columbia Records President Clive Davis to see the band at Max's Kansas City in New York City. Aerosmith was not originally scheduled to play that night at the club, but they paid out of their own pockets to secure a place on the bill, reportedly the only band ever to do so at Max's. "No Surprize" from their "Night in the Ruts" album celebrated the moment their fame rose.


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith signed with Columbia in mid-1972 for a reported $125,000, and released their debut album, "Aerosmith". Released in January 1973, the album peaked at number 166. The album was straightforward rock and roll with well-defined blues influences, laying the groundwork for Aerosmith's signature blues rock sound. Although the highest-charting single from the album was "Dream On" at number 59, several tracks, such as "Mama Kin" and "Walkin' the Dog", would become staples of the band's live shows, and received airplay on rock radio. The album reached gold status initially, eventually went on to sell two million copies, and was certified double platinum after the band reached mainstream success over a decade later. After constant touring, the band released their second album, "Get Your Wings" in 1974, the first of a string of multi-platinum albums produced by Jack Douglas. This album included the rock radio hits "Same Old Song and Dance" and "Train Kept A-Rollin'", a cover done previously by the Yardbirds. The album also contained several fan favorites, including "Lord of the Thighs", "Seasons of Wither", and "S.O.S. (Too Bad)", darker songs that have become staples in the band's live shows. To date, "Get Your Wings" has sold three million copies.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1975, Aerosmith released their third album, "Toys in the Attic", which established Aerosmith as international stars, competing with the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Originally derided as Rolling Stones knockoffs in part due to the physical resemblance between lead singers Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger, "Toys in the Attic" showed that Aerosmith was a unique and talented band in their own right. "Toys in the Attic" was an immediate success, starting with the single "Sweet Emotion", which became the band's first Top 40 hit. This was followed by a successful re-release of "Dream On" which hit No. 6, becoming their best charting single of the 1970s. "Walk This Way", re-released in 1976, reached the Top 10 in early 1977.


title: Aerosmith

text: In addition, "Toys in the Attic" and "Big Ten Inch Record" (a song originally recorded by Bull Moose Jackson) became concert staples. As a result of this success, both of the band's previous albums re-charted. "Toys in the Attic" has gone on to become the band's bestselling studio album in the United States, with certified US sales of nine million copies. The band toured in support of "Toys in the Attic", where they started to get more recognition. Also around this time, the band established their home base as "the Wherehouse" in Waltham, Massachusetts, where they would record and rehearse music, as well as conduct business.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1976, Aerosmith's fourth album was "Rocks," which music historian Greg Prato described as "captur[ing] Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". It went platinum swiftly and featured two Top 40 hits, "Last Child" and "Back in the Saddle", as well as the ballad "Home Tonight", which also charted. "Rocks" would eventually go on to sell over four million copies. Both "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks" are highly regarded, especially in the hard rock genre: they appear on such lists as "Rolling Stone"s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and are cited as influential by members of Guns N' Roses, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe. Kurt Cobain also listed "Rocks" as one of the albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his journal in 1993. Soon after "Rocks" was released, the band continued to tour heavily, this time headlining their own shows, including large stadiums and rock festivals.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1977, Aerosmith released their fifth album, "Draw the Line". Its recording was affected by the band's excesses, but the record still had memorable moments. The title track charted just shy of the Top 40 and remains a live staple, and "Kings and Queens" also charted. The album went on to sell two million copies. The band toured extensively in support of the album, but drug abuse and the fast-paced life of touring and recording began affecting their performances. Tyler and Perry became known as "the Toxic Twins" due to their notorious abuse of drugs on and off the stage. Tyler later commented, "I've spent $64 million on drugs"; Perry scoffed later, "There's no fucking way in the world you could spend that much money on drugs and still be alive. It makes a good headline – but, practically speaking, that was probably a very small portion of where we spent our money."


title: Aerosmith

text: While continuing to tour and record in the late 1970s, Aerosmith appeared in the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie. Their cover of The Beatles' "Come Together", from the soundtrack, was the band's last Top 40 hit for nearly 10 years. The double vinyl "Live! Bootleg", issued in 1978, captured the band's rawness during the "Draw the Line" tour. The standalone single "Chip Away the Stone", also released in 1978, charted at number 77.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1979, the band started work on their next album, "Night in the Ruts", but Aerosmith decided to go on tour during a break in the recording schedule. As the decade was about to conclude, the band's drug use began taking its toll, and tensions were slowly coming to a head. The band's touring schedule brought them to Cleveland Stadium on July 28, 1979, where they headlined the World Series of Rock festival. Pandemonium erupted backstage when Joe Perry's wife, Elissa, threw a glass of milk at Tom Hamilton's wife, Terry. Following the show, Tyler and Perry got into a heated argument when Tyler confronted Perry about his wife's antics, and after the course of the argument, Perry left Aerosmith (while Tyler claims in his autobiography that he fired Perry from the band). Upon his departure, Perry took some of the music that he had written with him. Shortly after his departure, Perry formed his own side project known as The Joe Perry Project.


title: Aerosmith

text: Since there was still work to be done on "Night in the Ruts", Aerosmith needed fill-in musicians to take Perry's place on the songs that needed to be recorded to complete the album. Guitarist Brad Whitford took over some of the lead parts, and Richie Supa, the band's longtime writing partner, filled in where needed until the band was able to hire Jimmy Crespo to take over as the next full-time guitarist. "Night in the Ruts" was released in November 1979, but only managed to sell enough records to be certified gold at the time, although it would eventually sell enough copies to be certified platinum by 1994. The only single the album spawned, a cover of "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" by the Shangri-Las, peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.


title: Aerosmith

text: The tour for "Night in the Ruts" commenced shortly thereafter, but the band found themselves playing in smaller and smaller venues than before due to their popularity beginning to wane. Steven Tyler's drug issues were starting to affect his performance and songwriting, and he reached rock bottom in 1980, when he collapsed on stage during a show in Portland, Maine, and did not get up for the remainder of the set. Also in 1980, Aerosmith released their first compilation album, "Greatest Hits". While the compilation didn't chart very high initially, it gained popularity later, and went on to become the band's best selling album in the United States, with sales of 12 million copies. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle accident, which left him hospitalized for two months, and unable to tour or record well into 1981.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1981, Aerosmith began work on their next album, "Rock in a Hard Place", which saw them reunite with producer Jack Douglas. However, after the first song for the album, "Lightning Strikes", was recorded, Brad Whitford left the band and formed a duo with Derek St. Holmes, with whom he recorded a self-titled album, which failed to garner much interest. Whitford later joined up with the Joe Perry Project and played with them in 1984.


title: Aerosmith

text: With Rick Dufay taking Whitford's place, "Rock in a Hard Place" was released on August 27, 1982. The album reached number 32 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Only one single charted, the aforementioned "Lightning Strikes", which peaked at number 21 on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock chart. As with the tour for "Night in the Ruts", Aerosmith was unable to book larger venues, and instead had to rely on filling clubs and theaters, which they struggled to do. At a homecoming arena show in Worcester, Massachusetts, Tyler and Perry reunited and got high backstage before the show. Tyler was so intoxicated that he collapsed on stage again and, like before, could not get up.


title: Aerosmith

text: On February 14, 1984, Perry (by then divorced from his first wife Elissa) and Whitford saw Aerosmith perform at Boston's Orpheum Theater. Shortly thereafter, discussions began to reintegrate the two into the band and several months later, the original members of Aerosmith officially reunited. Steven Tyler recalls:


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1984, Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour called the Back in the Saddle Tour, which led to the live album "Classics Live II". While concerts on the tour were well-attended, it was plagued with several incidents, mostly attributed to drug abuse by band members. With their drug problems still not behind them, the group was signed to Geffen Records, and began working on a comeback. Despite the band signing on to a new record company, the band's old label Columbia continued to reap the benefits of Aerosmith's comeback, releasing the live companion albums "Classics Live I and II" and the collection "Gems".


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1985, the band released the album "Done with Mirrors", their first studio album since reuniting. While the album did receive some positive reviews, it only went gold and failed to produce a hit single or generate any widespread interest. The album's most notable track, "Let the Music Do the Talking", was in fact a cover of a song originally recorded by the Joe Perry Project and released on that band's album of the same name. Nevertheless, the band became a popular concert attraction once again, touring in support of "Done with Mirrors", well into 1986. In 1986, in an unprecedented crossover collaboration, Aerosmith (largely the additional contributions of leaders Tyler and Perry) appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of "Walk This Way", a track blending rock and roll with hip hop. In reaching number 4 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, the song and its frequently-aired video resurrected Aerosmith's career by introducing the band's music to a new generation.


title: Aerosmith

text: Despite their resurrecting performance, the band members' drug problems still stood in their way. In 1986, Tyler completed a successful drug rehabilitation program, after an intervention by his fellow band members, a doctor, and manager Tim Collins, who believed that the band's future would not be bright if Tyler did not get treated in time. The rest of the band members also completed drug rehab programs over the course of the next couple of years. According to the band's tell-all autobiography, Collins pledged in September 1986 that he could make Aerosmith the biggest band in the world by 1990 if they all completed drug rehab. Their next album was crucial because of the commercial disappointment of "Done With Mirrors", and as the band members became clean, they worked hard to make their next album a success.


title: Aerosmith

text: "Permanent Vacation" was released in August 1987, becoming a major hit and the band's bestselling album in over a decade (selling 5 million copies in the US), with all three of its singles ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll") reaching the Top 20 of the "Billboard" Hot 100. Steven Tyler reveals in his autobiography that the album was "...the first one we ever did sober." Part of "Permanent Vacation"s commercial success involved producer Bruce Fairbairn whose production touches (such as sound effects and high-quality recording) added interest to the album and the use of outside songwriters such as Desmond Child, Jim Vallance, and Holly Knight who assisted the band with lyrics. While the group was initially hesitant to using outside songwriters, including Tyler being furious for Knight getting songwriting credits for changing one word ("Rag Time" became "Rag Doll"), the method paid off, as "Permanent Vacation" became the band's most successful album in a decade. The group went on a subsequent tour with labelmates Guns N' Roses (who have cited Aerosmith as a major influence), which was intense at times because of Aerosmith's new struggle to stay clean amidst Guns N' Roses' well-publicized, rampant drug use.


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith's next album was even more successful. "Pump", released in September 1989, featured three Top Ten singles: "Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What It Takes", as well as the Top 30 "The Other Side", re-establishing the band as a serious musical force. "Pump" was a critical and commercial success, eventually selling 7 million copies, spawning several music videos that were in regular rotation on MTV, and achieving four-star ratings from major music magazines. "Pump" ranked as the fourth-bestselling album of 1990. The band also won its first Grammy in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Janie's Got a Gun". In addition, the video for "Janie's Got a Gun" won two Video Music Awards and was ranked as one of the 100 greatest videos of all time by "Rolling Stone", MTV, and VH1. Like "Permanent Vacation", "Pump" was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, who added production touches such as instrumental interludes that provided transitions between songs to give the album a more complete sound, as well as the Margarita Horns, who added horns to tracks such as "Love in an Elevator" and "The Other Side". Rock critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that "Pump" "revels in [pop concessions] without ever losing sight of Aerosmith's dirty hard rock core", going on to say that, "such ambition and successful musical eclectism make "Pump" rank with "Toys in the Attic" and "Rocks"." The recording process for "Pump" was documented in the video "The Making of Pump", which has since been re-released as a DVD. The music videos for the album's singles were featured on the release "Things That Go Pump in the Night", which quickly went platinum.


title: Aerosmith

text: In support of "Pump", the band embarked on the 12-month Pump Tour, which lasted for most of 1990. On February 21, 1990, the band appeared in a "Wayne's World" sketch on "Saturday Night Live," debating the fall of communism and the Soviet Union, and performed their recent hits "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Monkey on My Back". The appearance of the band in the "Wayne's World" sketch was later ranked by E! as the number-one moment in the history of the program. On August 11, 1990, the band's performance on MTV's "Unplugged" aired. In October 1990, the Pump Tour ended, with the band's first ever performances in Australia. That same year, the band was also inducted to the Hollywood Rock Walk. In November 1991, the band appeared on "The Simpsons" episode "Flaming Moe's" and released a box set titled "Pandora's Box". In coordination with the release of "Pandora's Box", the band's 1975 hit "Sweet Emotion" was re-mixed and re-released as a single, and a music video was created to promote the single. Also in 1991, the band performed their 1973 single "Dream On" with Michael Kamen's orchestra for MTV's 10th Anniversary special; this performance was used as the official music video for the song. In 1992, Tyler and Perry appeared live as guests of Guns N' Roses during the latter's 1992 worldwide pay-per-view show in Paris, performing a medley of "Mama Kin" (which GN'R covered in 1986) and "Train Kept-A Rollin".


title: Aerosmith

text: The band took a brief break before recording their follow-up to "Pump" in 1992. Despite significant shifts in mainstream music at the beginning of the 1990s, 1993's "Get a Grip" was just as successful commercially, becoming their first album to debut at number 1 and racking up sales of 7 million copies in a two-and-a-half-year timespan and over 20 million copies worldwide. The first singles were the hard rocking "Livin' on the Edge" and "Eat the Rich". Though many critics were unimpressed by the focus on the subsequent interchangeable power-ballads in promoting the album, all three ("Cryin'", "Amazing", and "Crazy") proved to be huge successes on radio and MTV. The music videos featured then up-and-coming actress Alicia Silverstone; her provocative performances earned her the title of "the Aerosmith chick" for the first half of the decade. Steven Tyler's daughter Liv Tyler was also featured in the "Crazy" video. The band won two Grammy Awards for songs from this album in the category of Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: for "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994 and "Crazy" in 1995.


title: Aerosmith

text: During the making of "Get a Grip", the management and record company brought in a variety of professional songwriting collaborators to help give nearly all the songs on the album more commercial appeal, a trend which would continue until the early 2000s. However, this led to accusations of selling out that would continue throughout the 1990s. In addition to Aerosmith's grueling 18-month world tour in support of "Get a Grip", the band also did a number of things to help promote themselves and their album and appeal to youth culture, including the appearance of the band in the movie "Wayne's World 2" where they performed two songs, the appearance of the band and their music in the video games "Revolution X" and "Quest for Fame", performing at Woodstock '94, using their song "Deuces Are Wild" in "The Beavis and Butt-head Experience", and opening their own club, The Mama Kin Music Hall, in Boston, MA in 1994. That same year saw the release of the band's compilation for Geffen Records, entitled "Big Ones" featuring their biggest hits from "Permanent Vacation", "Pump", and "Get a Grip", "Deuces Are Wild" from the "Beavis and Butt-head Experience", as well as two new songs, "Blind Man" and "Walk on Water", both of which experienced great success on the rock charts.


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith had signed a $30 million contract for four records with Columbia Records/Sony Music in 1991, but had only recorded three of their six contractual albums with Geffen Records at that point ("Done with Mirrors", "Permanent Vacation", and "Pump"). Between 1991 and 1996, they released two more albums with Geffen ("Get a Grip" and "Big Ones"), which meant they now had five albums with Geffen under their belt (along with a planned live compilation), which meant they could now begin recording for their new contract with Columbia. The band took time off with their families before working on their next album, "Nine Lives", which was plagued with personnel problems, including the firing of manager Tim Collins, who, according to band members, had nearly caused the band to break up. The album's producer was also changed from Glen Ballard to Kevin Shirley. "Nine Lives" was released in March 1997. Reviews were mixed, and "Nine Lives" initially fell down the charts, although it had a long chart life and sold double platinum in the United States alone, fueled by its singles, "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", the ballad "Hole in My Soul", and the crossover-pop smash "Pink" (which won the band their fourth Grammy Award in 1999 in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category). It was followed by the over two-year-long Nine Lives Tour, which was plagued by problems including lead singer Steven Tyler injuring his leg at a concert, and Joey Kramer suffering second degree burns when his car caught fire at a gas station.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1998, in the midst of setbacks during the Nine Lives Tour, the band released the single "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", the love theme, written by Diane Warren for the 1998 film "Armageddon", starring Steven Tyler's daughter Liv. The song became Aerosmith's first and only number 1 single when it debuted at the top position on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and stayed on top of the charts for four weeks. The song was nominated for an Academy Award in 1999. The song helped open Aerosmith up to a new generation and remains a slow-dance staple. 1998 also saw the release of the double-live album, "A Little South of Sanity", which was assembled from performances on the Get a Grip and Nine Lives tours. The album went platinum shortly after its release. The band continued with their seemingly neverending world tours promoting "Nine Lives" and the "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" single well into 1999.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 1999, Aerosmith was chosen to be featured in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, providing the ride's soundtrack and theme at both Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and, formerly, at Disneyland Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, which opened in 2002 and closed in 2019, to be replaced by an Iron Man and the Avengers attraction in the upcoming Avengers Campus. On September 9, 1999, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry reunited with Run–D.M.C. and were also joined by Kid Rock for a collaborative live performance of "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards, a precursor to the Girls of Summer Tour. The band celebrated the new millennium with a brief tour of Japan, and also contributed the song "Angel's Eye" to the 2000 film "Charlie's Angels". In December 2000, they wrapped up work on their next album.


title: Aerosmith

text: The band entered their next decade by co-headlining with NSYNC the Super Bowl XXXV halftime show, titled "The Kings of Rock and Pop", with appearances from Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly. All of the stars collaborated with Aerosmith at the end for a performance of "Walk This Way".


title: Aerosmith

text: In March 2001, the band released their 13th studio album "Just Push Play", which quickly went platinum, fueled by the Top 10 single "Jaded" and the appearance of the title track in Dodge commercials. They were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soon after their album was released, in late March 2001. Aerosmith is the only band to be inducted to the Hall of Fame with a song active in the charts ("Jaded"). Later that year, the band performed as part of the benefit concert in Washington D.C. for 9/11 victims and their families. The band flew back to Indianapolis for a show the same night, as part of their Just Push Play Tour.


title: Aerosmith

text: The band started 2002 by ending the Just Push Play tour, and simultaneously recording segments for their "Behind the Music" special on VH1, which not only chronicled the band's history but also the band's current activities and touring. The special was one of the few "Behind the Music"s to run two hours in length. In May, Aerosmith covered the "Theme from Spider-Man" for the soundtrack of the 2002 film of the same name. On June 27, the band performed at the official FIFA World Cup concert at Tokyo Stadium which took place during the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea/Japan. In July 2002, Aerosmith released a two-disc career-spanning compilation "O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits", which featured the new single "Girls of Summer" and embarked on the Girls of Summer Tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening. "O, Yeah!" has since been certified double platinum. MTV honored Aerosmith with their mtvICON award in 2002. Performances included Pink covering "Janie's Got a Gun". Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", Kid Rock played "Mama Kin" and "Last Child", Train performed "Dream On" and Papa Roach covered "Sweet Emotion". In addition, testimonials featured surprise guests Metallica, as well as Janet Jackson, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst, Alicia Silverstone and Mila Kunis.


title: Aerosmith

text: In 2003, Aerosmith co-headlined with Kiss on the Rocksimus Maximus Tour, in preparation for release of their blues album. They also performed a song for "Rugrats Go Wild", "Lizard Love".


title: Aerosmith

text: Aerosmith's long-promised blues album "Honkin' on Bobo" was released in 2004. This was a return to the band's roots, including recording the album in live sessions, working with former producer Jack Douglas, and laying down their blues rock grit. It was followed by a live DVD, "You Gotta Move", in December 2004, culled from performances on the Honkin' on Bobo Tour. "Dream On" was also featured in an advertising campaign for Buick in 2004, targeting that marque's market which is now composed largely of people who were teenagers when the song first charted.


title: Aerosmith

text: 2005 saw Steven Tyler appear in the film "Be Cool". Joe Perry released his self-titled solo album that same year. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for the track "Mercy", but lost to Les Paul. In October 2005, Aerosmith released a CD/DVD "Rockin' the Joint". The band hit the road for the Rockin' the Joint Tour on October 30 with Lenny Kravitz for a fall/winter tour of arenas in the largest US markets. The band planned to tour with Cheap Trick in the spring, hitting secondary markets in the US. Almost all of this leg of the tour was canceled, however. Dates were initially canceled one by one until March 22, 2006, when it was announced that lead singer Steven Tyler needed throat surgery, and the remaining dates on the tour were subsequently canceled.


title: Aerosmith

text: Tyler and Perry performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra for their annual concert of July 4 on the Esplanade in 2006, a milestone as it was the first major event or performance since Steven Tyler's throat surgery. Around this time, the band also announced that they would embark on the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in late 2006. On August 24, 2006, it was announced that Tom Hamilton was undergoing treatment for throat cancer. In order to make a full recovery, he sat out much of the Route of All Evil Tour until he was well again. Former Joe Perry Project bassist David Hull substituted for Hamilton until his return. On September 5, 2006, Aerosmith kicked off the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe in Columbus, Ohio. The co-headlining tour took both bands to amphitheaters across North America through November 24. After that, a select few arena dates were added, some of which were with Mötley Crüe. The tour ended December 17.


title: Aerosmith

text: On October 17, 2006, the compilation album "" was released. The album contained previous hits with the addition of two new songs, "Devil's Got a New Disguise" and "Sedona Sunrise", which were older outtakes re-recorded for the album. "Devil's Got a New Disguise" peaked at number 15 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The album was intended to fulfill Aerosmith's contract with Sony and tide fans over until the band's new studio album was released.


title: Aerosmith

text: In early 2007, the band announced a new World Tour, their first for nearly a decade to include dates outside North America or Japan. The band performed at London's Hard Rock Cafe in February 2007 to promote their European tour which included a night in Hyde Park as part of the Hyde Park Calling festival sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. In the spring, the band toured Latin America to sold-out stadium crowds. In the summer, the band toured Europe, performing at several major rock festivals and visiting some countries they had never played before. Additionally, the band played in Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and India for the first time. The band also played a few select dates in California and Canada in late July. The July 21 concert in Prince Edward Island, was the largest in that province's history. In September, the band performed eight dates in major markets in Northeastern North America. These shows were opened by Joan Jett. The band also played a private gig in Hawaii. A public show in Maui was canceled for logistical reasons, which spurred a class action lawsuit against the band. In April 2009, Aerosmith agreed to compensate all ticket buyers of the canceled show with a free ticket to a rescheduled Maui show to be held on October 20, 2009, along with reimbursements of all out-of-pocket expenses related to the show.


title: Aerosmith

text: On November 1, 2007, the band entered the studio to work on the final studio album of their current contract with Sony. At the time, it was believed that the album would include both re-recorded tracks left off previous albums as well as brand new material. In an interview, guitarist Joe Perry revealed that in addition to creating a new album, the band was working closely with the makers of the "Guitar Hero" series to develop "", a video game dedicated to the band's music. The game was released on June 29, 2008 and contains many of their most popular songs. Steven Tyler announced on VH1 Classic Radio on September 4, 2008, that Aerosmith intended to enter the studio at the end of September 2008 to complete the band's 15th studio album. Tyler also confirmed that the band planned to begin a new US tour in June 2009, in support of the as-yet-untitled album. This tour was supposed to be preceded by a concert in Venezuela on February 1, 2009. However, on January 15, 2009, Tyler said the band would be unable to play the gig because of a second knee injury of guitarist Joe Perry. In mid-February 2009, it was announced that the album would be produced by the famed Brendan O'Brien and that the album would likely be recorded live, like their earlier records. Although the band had hoped to finish the album before the tour started in June 2009, Perry said that the group "realized there wasn't any chance of getting [the album] finished before we hit the road for the summer." The tour featured ZZ Top as the opening act for most of the tour. The Aerosmith/ZZ Top Tour, presented by "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith", was officially announced and the first dates released on April 8, 2009.


title: Aerosmith

text: In the midst of the tour, Perry completed work on his fifth solo album, "Have Guitar, Will Travel" and drummer Joey Kramer released his autobiography, "Hit Hard". Perry's solo album was released on October 6, 2009.


title: Aerosmith

text: After Tyler recovered from falling off stage, the band returned to the stage in mid-October for two shows in Hawaii, one in Maui which was rescheduled from 2007 and finally played as part of a legal settlement, and an additional show which was played in Honolulu. In early November, the band played a concert in Abu Dhabi at the Grand Prix.


title: Aerosmith

text: Tyler pulled out of a planned South American tour at the end of 2009 and seemed intent on pursuing solo projects, including his autobiography "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?". Tyler told "Classic Rock magazine", "I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself – Brand Tyler." Meanwhile, guitarist Joe Perry toured the United States at the end of 2009, and Japan and the UK early in 2010.


title: Aerosmith

text: In November 2009, Joe Perry stated that Tyler had not been in contact with the band and could be on the verge of quitting Aerosmith. Perry stated that the rest of the group was "looking for a new singer to work with." It was reported that singer Lenny Kravitz had been approached for Steven Tyler's position, which he then declined.


title: Aerosmith

text: However, despite the rumors of him leaving the band, Tyler joined the Joe Perry Project onstage on November 10, 2009 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, and Tyler and Perry performed the Aerosmith single "Walk This Way" together. According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that he was "not quitting Aerosmith".


title: Aerosmith

text: On December 22, "People" magazine reported that Tyler had entered a rehabilitation facility to manage his addiction to painkillers, brought on by injuries to his knees, legs, and feet, that resulted from years of performing. In his statement, Tyler said he is grateful for the support he is receiving, is committed to getting things taken care of, and is eager to get back on stage and in the recording studio with his bandmates.


title: Aerosmith

text: On January 20, 2010, Perry confirmed the band were about to audition for a new singer to replace Tyler. Perry said Tyler's surgery to his legs would "take him out of the picture" for up to a year and a half, and in the meantime, the rest of the band wanted to continue performing. Perry also said that the band would be willing to continue working with Tyler in the future if the singer wanted to.


title: Aerosmith

text: In response, Tyler's attorney sent the band and its manager a "cease and desist" letter and threatened further legal action against both if the band did not discontinue this effort to replace Tyler.


title: Aerosmith

text: On February 15, 2010, it was announced that Aerosmith were to headline Download Festival at Donington Park, England in June 2010. Tyler was confirmed as the frontman for the show by festival promoter Andy Copping. It was announced that the band would precede the June 13 date with an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival on June 10 in Sölvesborg. During the Donington show, Perry celebrated Tyler's position as frontman, dubbing him "the best lead singer on the planet". On February 24, the band announced the first batch of dates for their upcoming Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour. The tour saw the band play seven dates in South and Central America in May, followed by eleven dates in Europe, in June and early July. The band performed in Colombia, Peru and Greece for the first time in their career on this tour. The band performed 24 concerts in North America in late July, August, and September. Many of the concerts were in locations the band canceled on in 2009. As part of the tour, the band played Fenway Park in Boston with fellow Bostonians the J. Geils Band.


title: Aerosmith

text: Problems on the band's Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour arose in August 2010, including Tyler accidentally hitting Joe Perry in the head with his microphone stand at a show in Wantagh, New York and Perry bumping into Tyler at the Toronto show, which caused Tyler to tumble off the stage. Perry suffered a minor head injury at the Wantagh show and Tyler was helped back up by fans and Perry at the Toronto show, and both shows went on. Around the same time as these incidents, tension flared again between Perry and Tyler due to Tyler's plans to become a talent judge on "American Idol". Perry criticized Tyler for not consulting the rest of the band, saying that he "found out on the internet, like the rest of the world" and that nobody else in the band knew anything about it.


title: Aerosmith

text: On August 18, it was reported that Tyler officially signed on with the show. When asked about this in October, Perry declared he understood Tyler's reasons and wished him luck, but stated that he would seek different projects – "I'm tired of waiting around, so I'm not passing up anything right now".


title: Aerosmith

text: While announcing the Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock Tour in 2009, Tyler and Perry said that the next item on the agenda was a new Aerosmith album, the group's first since 2004's "Honkin' on Bobo." The group did some recording with producer Brendan O'Brien in 2008 but halted because of Tyler's health problems. Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton told the "Boston Herald" in September 2010 that Tyler believes he has the time and energy to continue fronting the band while also being a judge on "American Idol".


title: Aerosmith

text: Hamilton explained, "Steven's been very emphatic in saying that the way his time is arranged on the show leaves room to work on a record. He's been taking great pains to remind everybody of that, so hopefully that's the way it will come out." On November 5, 2010, Brad Whitford said the recording sessions will probably be in Los Angeles, where "American Idol" is headquartered, and a world tour would follow.


title: Aerosmith

text: In a November 2010 interview reported at NME.com, drummer Joey Kramer confirmed that the band had every intention to finish and release their long-delayed album in 2011, stating, "Really, at this point in time, the only thing that's going to stop us is if someone out-and-out dies. Other than that, we've already been through what we've been through and stood the test of time. What else is there?" On January 18, 2011, Tyler declared that "Joe (Perry) has got some licks and I've got a bunch of songs that I've written for solo and/or Aerosmith" and the band would start prepping the album that week.


title: Aerosmith

text: On March 20, 2011, Aerosmith announced a new greatest hits album, "", which was released on May 10, 2011. On May 14, 2011, the band announced a tour of Latin America in the fall of 2011. In June, Joe Perry announced that the band is going to meet at the recording studio to produce the next album of the band in July. On August 30, it was announced that the new album will be released around May 2012. The album will be produced by Jack Douglas, who produced four albums for the band in the 1970s. Aerosmith began their fall tour of Latin America and Japan on October 22 in Lima, Peru. As part of the tour, the band performed in Paraguay, Panama, and Ecuador for the first time in their careers. Their show in Asunción, Paraguay was postponed a day, after lead singer Steven Tyler sustained facial injuries after falling in his hotel room shower, due to a bout of food poisoning that dehydrated him and caused him to faint.


title: Aerosmith

text: On March 11, 2012, Aerosmith was featured on an episode of "60 Minutes". The show included very candid interviews with the band members, interspersed with live performances from the band's 2011 tour. Some of the comments the band members said about each other seemed to re-ignite past tensions in the band. However, on March 22, Joe Perry surprised Steven Tyler by performing "Happy Birthday" for him on "American Idol", as an early birthday present for Tyler. On March 26, Aerosmith announced a summer tour with Cheap Trick entitled the "Global Warming Tour". On May 23, Aerosmith debuted their new single, "Legendary Child", on the season finale of "American Idol". Shortly after, it was announced that their fifteenth studio album, "Music from Another Dimension!", would be released on November 6, 2012. On May 30, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick performed for Walmart shareholders. Aerosmith's "Global Warming Tour" began June 16 in Minneapolis and took the band to 26 locations across North America through August 12. The band hinted that the tour would continue in October/November after the album release. On August 22, Aerosmith released two singles simultaneously, the rocker "Lover Alot" and the ballad "What Could Have Been Love". On September 22, Aerosmith performed at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas. In advance of the release of their new album, the band performed on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "Today", and Tyler and Perry were interviewed on "The Late Show" and "The View". In addition, Tyler, Perry and Whitford performed "Dream On" for the telethon "" to raise funds for the victims of the namesake storm that struck the Northeastern United States. On November 5, Aerosmith performed an outdoor concert in front of their old apartment at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston to celebrate the release of their album and their Boston roots. "Music from Another Dimension!" was released on November 6. Two days later, the band began the 2nd leg of their Global Warming Tour, which took the band to 14 North American locations through December 13.


title: Aerosmith

text: On January 21, 2013, Aerosmith released "Can't Stop Lovin' You" (featuring Carrie Underwood) as the fourth single from "Music from Another Dimension!". On February 20, it was announced that the band's principal songwriters Steven Tyler and Joe Perry would be recipients of the ASCAP Founders Award at the society's 30th Annual Pop Music Awards on April 17. Two days later, it was announced that the duo would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held on June 13.


title: Aerosmith

text: In late April and early May 2013, Aerosmith extended their Global Warming Tour to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. This marked the band's first performances in Australia in 23 years, and the band's first-ever performances in the latter four countries. Tom Hamilton had to miss the last three Australian shows due to illness; David Hull filled in for him. On May 5, Aerosmith cancelled their first-ever performance in Indonesia (scheduled for May 11) due to safety concerns; the actual threat was not released. On May 30, Aerosmith performed as part of the "Boston Strong" charity concert for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. The band also performed at the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia on July 6, at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut on July 10, four concerts in Japan in mid-August, and as part of the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary Concert series in Milwaukee on August 30. In the fall of 2013, Aerosmith extended their tour to Central and South America, including their first-ever performances in Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. Hamilton had to depart the Latin American tour due to illness.


title: Aerosmith

text: In July 2013, the band released the live concert DVD "Rock for the Rising Sun", which also documented the band's 2011 tour of Japan. The release was also screened in select theaters in October 2013.


title: Aerosmith

text: On March 21, 2014, in tweets released by Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, and Slash, it was announced that Aerosmith would be touring North America with Slash (along with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators) in the summer of 2014. This followed a 17-date European tour that Aerosmith took from May 14 to July 2. The North American tour, known as the Let Rock Rule Tour, sent Aerosmith to 21 locations from July 10 to September 12.


title: Aerosmith

text: Asked in May 2014 if Aerosmith would release a sixteenth studio album anytime soon, bassist Tom Hamilton replied, "I hope soon. But I really don't know what we are doing because we no longer have a record contract. We are finished with Columbia. So, there is nothing written in stone. We'll see what the fans want." In an interview with "Rolling Stone" about what the future holds, Joe Perry admitted that, "I don't even know if making new albums makes sense anymore. Maybe we'll just release an EP every six months. I don't know what the future looks like."