Aerosmith star Brad Whitford has revealed he and his bandmates approached Sammy Hagar and asked him to replace Steven Tyler in the band when the frontman announced a hiatus in 2009.
Whitford tells Vh1 Tv programme That Metal Show that Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth in Van Halen, was very excited about the prospect of fronting a new-look Aerosmith under a different name.
The guitarist says, "We had to talk about it... (We thought), 'Well, maybe we could put a different name on it and bring somebody else in. It's impossible to fill Steven's shoes, that's not gonna happen.
"We spoke to a couple of people that were semi-interested. We spoke to Sammy, and he was really excited about it. I love Sammy, and I was like, 'Oh man, this would be so cool!' (But) it all started to come back together on its own (with Tyler), like it was going to and should have."
Tyler rejoined the band after a stint in rehab and a brief solo spell.