Joe Perry collapsed backstage after making a guest appearance at Billy Joel's Madison Square Garden concert last night. According to a statement from his publicist, the Aerosmith guitarist is currently "alert and responsive" in an unspecified hospital.

"Following a guest performance during Billy Joel’s show last night at Madison Square Garden," the statement reads, "Joe Perry experienced shortness of breath and was treated backstage by paramedics who gave the guitarist oxygen and used a tracheal tube to clear his airway before taking him to a hospital. This morning Perry remains in the hospital where he is alert and responsive. The Aerosmith guitarist will be unable to appear today at Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp in Florida and apologizes to those attending.  Perry is expected to return to the road later this month."

According to TMZ, the Aerosmith guitarist had just finished performing "Walk This Way" with Joel before collapsing in his dressing room. The show continued, with Joel reportedly unaware of the backstage emergency.

Just moments before the incident, fans were wowed by Perry's guitar performance, with band member Mike DelGuidice singing lead vocals on the Toys in the Attic single.

This isn't the first time Perry, 68, has collapsed backstage. In July of 2016, he did so during a Hollywood Vampires concert, an incident which was later attributed to "dehydration and exhaustion."

“I’ve certainly had a couple other instances where I’ve pushed myself over the edge, but never in such a public way, you know?” Perry told the Boston Globe of the incident in April. “Certainly we’re seeing more and more people pass from one thing or another, whether it’s age or abuse. And I don’t want to be on that list. So I learned a lot."

Perry is scheduled to begin a solo tour in support of Sweetzerland Manifesto on Nov. 30, and two days ago released a lyric video for the track "Quake," while Aerosmith is planning a Las Vegas residency for their 50th anniversary in 2019.

 

 

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