Aerosmith guitarist sitting out for part of 2009 tour with ZZ Top

Aerosmith has announced that guitarist Brad Whitford will sit out part of the band's upcoming tour with ZZ Top while he recuperates from a recent surgical procedure. A press release issued by the group's publicist did not specify what kind of surgery Whitford had. Bobby Schneck, who has played with Green Day, Weezer and Slash, will fill in on the dates that Whitford misses. The trek begins on Friday (June 10th) in St. Louis, with ZZ Top joining the bill as special guests on the 21st.

The band said in the press release that they "regret any inconvenience to their fans and thank everyone for their support."

Every member of Aerosmith has dealt with some kind of illness or injury in the last four years. Drummer Joey Kramer suffered a shoulder injury in 2005, while bassist Tom Hamilton successfully fought off throat cancer. More recently, guitarist Joe Perry had to have knee surgery while singer Steven Tyler dealt with foot surgery and pneumonia.

Hamilton told us that overcoming cancer gave him a new appreciation for life: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "You know, one of the ironic things is that, and it's kind of a cliche, you know, about the little things in life, but I'm constantly noticing little pleasures like that. And because -- you know, I'm pretty sure I'm cool, but you never know, you might go in there and they'll say, 'Oh, there's some kind of trouble going on,' so you really do put a priority on enjoying the stuff that's right in front of you."

Aerosmith recently began work on a new album but had to halt while Perry and Tyler recovered from their medical issues. The group plans to resume work on the disc when the tour is over this fall.

The band recently confirmed rumors that it will play its entire classic 1975 album Toys In The Attic on its upcoming tour.
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