After almost a week of speculation Steven Tyler has confirmed that he won’t return to the judging panel for American Idol next season. According to him, he has to let go of this gig so that he can get back to making music with Aerosmith.
This news comes hours after JLo appeared on The Today Show and revealed that her time as an AI judge may be up as well.
See what both stars had to say below!
Steven Tyler’s statement:
“After some long…hard…thoughts…I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress American Idol before she boils my rabbit,” Tyler says in a statement. “I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back—but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I’ve got two fists in the air and I’m kicking the door open with my band. The next few years are going to be dedicated to kicking some serious ass—the ultimate in auditory takeover. On Nov. 6, we are unleashing our new album, Music From Another Dimension on the Earth, Moon, Mars, and way beyond the stars…Idol was over-the-top fun, and I loved every minute of it…Now it’s time to bring Rock Back. ERMAHGERD.”
“…I am thinking that maybe it’s time for me to go and do the things that I really love to do, like films, and right now I’m on tour, and performing, and all of the things that I do.”
Speculations that Adam Lambert may join the judging panel began earlier this week, and since then a ton of celebrity names have been thrown into the conversation. Unfortunately, we won’t really know who’s really signing on until someone close to the show makes a statement. Until then, we wait.
Update: Ryan Seacrest just confirmed that JLo is officially leaving American Idol and People has added Mariah Carey to the long list of possible replacements.