Steven Tyler's former pal Dj Carol Miller once feared the Aerosmith rocker was dead after unsuccessfully trying to wake him, hours after he downed a handful of sleeping pills.
The New York radio personality, who met Tyler at a nightclub, retired to the music icon's hotel room one summer morning in 1977 in a bid to hear some of his new tracks.
After growing tired, the Crazy hitmaker popped a few sleep aids and went to bed, and Miller flew into a panic the following morning when he refused to wake up - until she shoved a plate of breakfast under his nose.
Miller details the scary experience in her upcoming memoir, Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio, and in an excerpt obtained by the New York Daily News, she writes, "Tyler immediately rummaged through a bag for a large brown bottle, jumped on the bed in the adjoining room, and shoved a handful of red capsules down his throat.
"Within seconds, he was out cold... The next morning, there was no sign of movement from my sleeping host... I thought, 'Steven Tyler was dead...'
"I began to poke Steven Tyler. If this guy was breathing, I couldn't tell, and where was his pulse? 'Don't panic! Don't panic!' I repeated, and tried to collect my thoughts. If I simply slipped out of the hotel now, I might be tracked down by the police as the last person to be seen with the deceased...
"It occurred to me that I had spoken to someone at the club during the night who was part of the Aerosmith entourage. The hotel operator connected me to Michael Cohen, and though I was embarrassed to admit I was still in Steven's room, I told him, 'I don't know how to tell you this, but - Steven doesn't seem to be breathing.'
"'Oh, he did that again,' laughed Michael. 'Here's what you do. Order a hot breakfast from room service with eggs and coffee. Make sure it's hot. When they bring it up, stick it under Steven's nose.' And when I did, sure enough, Tyler grunted."