Dude! Our very long, very loud national nightmare is over. A month after Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer announced he would be suing his band for excluding him from several high-profile performance events during Grammys week, he’s back in action once again with his Boston brothers. Per Rolling Stone, Kramer performed with Aerosmith in an official capacity on Monday evening as the band continues their Las Vegas residency, and he’s expected to be on drums for the remainder of the dates. This is the first time Kramer performed alongside Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, et al. since last April, when he sustained an injury that spurred an unusually harsh reaction from his bandmates in its aftermath.
Kramer claims that he had to reaudition and prove his drumming talents (or “play at an appropriate level”) to get back into Aerosmith, although such scrutiny was never required in the past when other band members got injured. “This is not about money,” he said at the time. “I am being deprived of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers for our collective lifetime contributions to the music industry.” In a twist, a judge ended up siding with Aerosmith, although Kramer still walked the red carpet with his bandmates during their various Grammys events. (Aerosmith was honored with the coveted MusiCares’ Person of the Year Award, as well as the Grammys’ Lifetime Achievement honor.) “Kramer has not shown a realistic alternative course of action,” the judge ruled, “sufficient to protect the band’s business interests.” A substitute drummer filled in for Kramer during their MusiCares concert, their Grammys performance with Run-DMC, as well as their sporadic residency dates in Las Vegas between last April and now.