WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — "Peace Out." That's the message four-time Grammy Award-winning rock band Aerosmith had for fans Monday morning, announcing their farewell tour.
The "Peace Out" tour will celebrate 50 years of the band's hits and features special guest the Black Crowes.
The 40-date tour begins Sept. 2 in Philadelphia and includes two stops in Florida, including the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise on Oct. 20. The other Florida stop is Oct. 11 in Tampa.
Aerosmith's tour also includes a hometown stop in Boston on New Year's Eve.
"I think it's about time," guitarist Joe Perry said.
Perry said the group, with frontman Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitarist Brad Whitford, learned from the staging and production of their recent Las Vegas residency shows.
Perry believes the time to say goodbye is now, especially with every founding band member over the age of 70. Tyler, 75, is the oldest in the group.
"It's kind of a chance to celebrate the 50 years we've been out here," Perry said. "You never know how much longer everybody's going to be healthy to do this. … It's been a while since we've actually done a real tour. We did that run in Vegas, which was great. It was fun, but (we're) kind of anxious to get back on the road."
Tyler and Perry said the band is looking forward to digging into their lengthy catalog of the group's rock classics, including "Crazy," "Janie's Got a Gun" and "Livin' on the Edge."
Over the years, Aerosmith, which formed in 1970, has collected four Grammys. The band broke boundaries intersecting rock and hip-hop with their epic collaboration with Run-DMC for "Walk This Way."
Aerosmith performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2001 and even had their own theme park attraction in 1999 at Disney World in Florida and later in Paris with the launch of the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith" ride.
"We're opening up Pandora's Box one last time to present our fans with the 'Peace Out' tour," Tyler said in a statement to The Associated Press.
His "Pandora's Box" reference calls out Aerosmith's 1991 three-disc compilation album that covered the band's output from the 1970s to the early 1980s.
"Be there or beware as we bring all the toys out of the attic. Get ready," Tyler added.
The band said Kramer decided to not take part in the current dates on the upcoming tour. He's still a part of the group, but the drummer has been on leave to "focus his attention on his family and health" since their Vegas residency last year. Drummer John Douglas will continue to play in his place.
Tickets go on sale Friday via Ticketmaster at 10 a.m.
