People magazine recently talked to Higginbothan Insurance’s managing director, Paul Bassman, to find out Aerosmith’s financial loss after the cancellation of their farewell tour. Bassman said:
“Aerosmith would lose the money that they were going to get in guarantees, but they wouldn’t get paid because they didn’t fulfill their obligations under the tour agreement. It’s a possibility that maybe Aerosmith or Steven Tyler took out a disability policy that would cover catastrophic illness or injury.”
The band announced their immediate retirement on August 2, stating there was no hope for Tyler to fully recover from his vocal injuries. The managing director went on:
“Sometimes tour cancellation insurance can be quite expensive, so what the artists can do is they’ll get a disability policy that says if your injury or illness caused you to not be able to do your job or do what you do for six months or, sometimes a year… then the policy will pay out the face value.”
Bassman explained that for a disability policy to pay out, the injury or illness must be severe enough to potentially end a career and prevent him from touring for 6 to 12 months. The insurance expert confirmed that Tyler’s condition qualified him for it but shared:
“I would say challenging to procure the insurance and perhaps very expensive. [Aerosmith] will still be out expenses for their crew, and who knows what kind of contracts they sign with their bus companies and their trucking companies, whether they have to pay the whole thing or there’s a, ‘Hey, we canceled the tour, we’ll pay you 50%.’”
“Every contract has different provisions on what happens if. They would still get paid what they made for the shows they performed.”
Aerosmith announced their farewell tour early in 2023. The tour faced a cancellation when Steven Tyler fractured his larynx on the third show in September and stepped down to rest his voice for at least a month.
The band rescheduled the dates to late 2024 and early 2025 but later announced that Tyler’s condition wasn’t getting well enough for him to perform:
“We’ve always wanted to blow your mind when performing. As you know, Steven’s voice is an instrument like no other. He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury. We’ve seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible. We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision – as a band of brothers – to retire from the touring stage.”
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