To complicate matters further, frontman Steven Tyler had to deal with some health issues of his own when he came down with a case of pneumonia last month. Surely not something a lead singer can "work through" behind a microphone in the studio.

The tour, which starts in June and has the veteran rockers sharing a stage with fellow classic rockers ZZ Top, will consists of about 40 dates. Although there are currently plans for the tour to remain in North America, Perry reports that some dates in South America and Japan are also being contemplated. No firm dates are available yet, but should be announced in the near future.

When the tour wraps up, the group plans to reconvene in the studio and get to work on the album. Perry reports that, "Aerosmith has probably two or three (songs) that could be mixed right now, maybe even more. But there's a long way between two or three and doing the 12 or 14 that you have to have to do a whole project."

It appears Perry is not completely bummed out by the delay, since it will give him an opportunity to go "full blast" on his next solo album, which he hopes will enjoy success similar to his Grammy-nominated Joe Perry, which he released in 2005.

"I have a big chunk of time before the tour, so I'm gonna try to get the solo record done as soon as I can," Perry says. "Chances are you're gonna be hearing that before you hear an Aerosmith record...'cause I expect the Aerosmith tour, God willing. to continue through the fall."

You can visit Billboard for the full story.