The hard rock giants will share the stage for two exclusive nights in Los Angeles as part of Aerosmith’s long-awaited return, joining an already packed bill of rock, metal and hip-hop names.
by Paul Cashmere</strong>
Guns N’ Roses have been confirmed as very special guest performers for Aerosmith’s two Hollywood Bowl concerts on 29 October and 1 November 2026, elevating the already ambitious “California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends” events into a rare meeting of two of the biggest American rock bands of the past five decades.
The announcement, issued on 8 October, comes one day after Aerosmith first revealed the Los Angeles shows. Those dates mark the band’s first full performances since 2023 and their only confirmed live appearances following the cancellation of the Peace Out farewell tour.
Guns N’ Roses join a guest list that already spans rock, metal, hip-hop and country. Confirmed names include The Black Crowes, Run-DMC, Heart, Billy Idol, Eric Church, Sammy Hagar, Tom Morello, Marcus King, Jerry Cantrell, Chad Smith, Nuno Bettencourt, Pat Monahan, Steve Stevens, Sully Erna, Andrew Watt, Adam Wakeman, Audley Freed and Kenny Aronoff. Further artists and surprise appearances are still expected.
The addition of Guns N’ Roses gives the Hollywood Bowl nights a different scale. Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses have rarely shared a stage in any formal capacity, and the combination of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford with Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan and the rest of the Guns N’ Roses lineup represents a significant moment for both catalogues.
Lineups will differ between the two nights. Final combinations of Aerosmith and their guests will be announced at or near showtime and remain subject to change. That structure leaves open the possibility of distinct performances rather than identical sets, something that has become a feature of these multi-artist event nights at the Bowl.
The concerts sit against a complicated recent chapter for Aerosmith. The Peace Out tour began in September 2023 but halted after only three shows when Steven Tyler suffered a fractured larynx. Remaining dates were postponed and later cancelled. In August 2024 the band stated that Tyler’s injury meant they could no longer continue touring. Since then Tyler has made selective live appearances, including the Back To The Beginning concert in Birmingham in 2025, while Joe Perry had publicly left the door open for at least one more Aerosmith show.
The Hollywood Bowl dates now provide that opportunity. They also arrive after Aerosmith’s first new music in more than a decade, the 2025 collaborative track “My Only” with Yungblud. The focus for these two nights, however, is expected to remain on the live catalogue. Songs such as “Dream On”, “Sweet Emotion”, “Walk This Way”, “Janie’s Got A Gun”, “Crazy”, “Cryin'” and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” form the core of the band’s most recognisable material. The presence of Run-DMC creates an obvious link to the 1986 “Walk This Way” collaboration that helped introduce Aerosmith to a new generation.
Don Was is serving as musical director. The shows are promoted by Live Nation-Hewitt Silva and Blackbird Presents. Artist pre-sale begins at 10am PST on Friday, with general on-sale at 10am PST on Saturday. Tickets and further information are available at Aerosmith.com.
Aerosmith have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide, earned four Grammy Awards and played to more than 100 million fans. Their signature song “Dream On” has passed five billion streams and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame. The Hollywood Bowl itself holds nearly 18,000 people and has long been a preferred venue for major non-classical concerts outside the LA Philharmonic season.
For the moment these remain the only announced Aerosmith dates. No wider tour has been confirmed. What the two nights offer instead is the chance to see the band surrounded by a guest roster that stretches across several generations of artists shaped by their music. Guns N’ Roses’ involvement now sits at the centre of that proposition.
October 29 and November 1 will show exactly how the friendships play out on stage.
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first—Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
