At a deeply emotional performance, Steven Tyler, the legendary frontman of Aerosmith, froze mid-song. Scanning the crowd, his eyes locked on an elderly woman with silver hair and bright, knowing eyes at the very front, her expression shimmering with anticipation. Without a second’s pause, Tyler strode over, grinned, and reached out, inviting her onstage. Gasps rippled through the venue as she stepped forward, hands trembling yet gaze calm under the glow. When the microphone reached her, an unexpected story emerged: she had adored Aerosmith since the ’70s, waiting decades for this moment. Then she sang—her gentle yet spirited voice weaving seamlessly with Tyler’s in a timeless love ballad. It became a breathtaking union of past and present, proving music’s magic defies age.

The story read: “It was a deeply moving moment — a connection between past and present — proving that music knows no age boundaries.”

At an emotional performance, Steven Tyler, the legendary lead singer of Aerosmith, suddenly stopped in the middle of his song. Looking out into the crowd, he noticed an elderly woman with silver hair and bright eyes standing at the front, her gaze full of anticipation. Without hesitation, Tyler walked over, smiled, and extended his hand, inviting her onto the stage. The entire venue was stunned as the elderly woman gently made her way up, her hands trembling but her eyes completely at ease under the stage lights. When the microphone was handed to her, an unexpected story unfolded: she had been a loyal Aerosmith fan since the 1970s and had been waiting for this moment her whole life. She began to sing, her voice soft yet full of life, blending with Tyler’s in a timeless love song. It was a deeply moving moment — a connection between past and present — proving that music knows no age boundaries.

The post also featured three images allegedly showing Tyler and the unidentified elderly woman in a concert setting. That post, plus a subsequent post (archived) on the same page, collectively amassed more than 176,000 reactions and 12,000 shares.

(Rock Revival 60s-90s/Facebook)

However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no news media outlets reporting about Tyler bringing an elderly woman onstage during an Aerosmith concert, at least not recently. Prominent entertainment outlets would have widely reported this rumor if it were true.

Rather, the person or people who authored the story fabricated it as one of hundreds of inspirational tales that depicted famous people and athletes performing inspiring acts of kindness. They also used artificial intelligence tools to create fake images of Tyler and the woman, as exhibited by the general look of the photos — a very specific overall appearance of a shiny and smooth nature that journalists and some users have become accustomed to viewing in the last few years.

Further, Aerosmith’s official website displayed no recent or upcoming tour dates as of this writing. The Associated Press reported that Aerosmith retired from touring in August 2024 after Tyler said he suffered permanent vocal cord injuries during a September 2023 concert.

Snopes contacted the managers of the Rock Revival 60s-90s Facebook page to ask if they fabricated the rumor or if they found the matter elsewhere and reposted it. We also inquired about the use of AI, considering that a user created the three fake images of Tyler and the elderly woman with an AI tool. Further, we submitted a question about the purpose of the page, including asking if they created it for fun or if they planned to sell it in the future once it receives a specific number of followers. The page had 46,000 followers as of this writing and its “page transparency” tab listed Nepal as the country where its three manager accounts were based.

In addition to the fake images of Tyler and the elderly woman, a Facebook user also shared the rumor as an AI-generated video (archived). Tyler showing an extra set of teeth in the last part of the clip served as one sign someone created the video with AI, as did the overly flexible arms of one person in the crowd behind the elderly woman.

A search for posts promoting the rumor about Tyler and the elderly woman uncovered similar posts featuring other musicians inviting an unnamed elderly woman onstage. For example, one post (archived) — also displaying AI-generated images — claimed gospel singer Guy Penrod invited an elderly woman onstage at an Aerosmith concert. It incorrectly described him as “the legendary frontman of Aerosmith.”

Another reader emailed about an Aug. 1 post (archived) from Rock & Roll Tribe — a Facebook page with four manager accounts based in Vietnam, according to its “page transparency” tab — claiming to show Tyler visiting a young fan battling cancer in a hospital bed. That post also displayed AI-generated photos as well as a link in the comments to an advertisement-filled article. The user or users promoting the claim and the story link likely sought ad revenue from the false rumor.

(Rock & Roll Tribe/Facebook)

The Rock Revival 60s-90s and Rock & Roll Tribe Facebook pages both displayed numerous additional posts about Tyler and Aerosmith containing fictional stories and/or AI-generated images.

These tales all very much resembled glurge, which Dictionary.com defines as “stories, often sent by email, that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental.”

For further reading, Snopes previously reported on another story claiming the 1974 comedy “Young Frankenstein” directly inspired the title for rock band Aerosmith’s song “Walk This Way.”