Born Stephen Victor Tallarico in New York, New York, in 1948, Steven Tyler came from a musical family.  His father helmed the Vic Tallarico Orchestra and taught music for many years at Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx.  Tyler's own time at high school was far less enjoyable, as he was expelled for drug use from his first school and later graduated Jose Quintano's School for Young Professionals.  After bouncing around through various odd jobs, Tyler decided to try his hand as a professional musician.

Tyler was the lead singer and sometimes drummer for a number of rock bands during the late 1960s.  In 1969, he first met guitarist Joe Perry.  When the two met again a year later in Boston, they decided to form a new band called Aerosmith.  While the contributions of the other band members should never be overlooked, the relationship between Tyler and Perry is the true driving force behind the band, and, ironically enough, it almost led to its destruction.

After experiencing phenomenal success during the 1970s with such albums as "Toys in the Attic," "Rocks," and "Draw the Line," Tyler and Perry fell victim to the drug culture of rock 'n' roll, even earning the nickname the Toxic Twins for their massive consumption of stimulants and heroin.  The wild ways and the emotional strife they caused eventually led to the band breaking up in 1979.  

But Tyler, Perry, and the rest of the boys reunited in 1985, with each member soon completing drug rehab and vowing to stay clean for the good of the band.  Tyler remained as flamboyant a performer as ever, still possessing the raw, shrieking vocals that have made him the Demon of Screamin'.