TMZ reported this week that Aerosmith drummer, Joey Kramer, has filed a lawsuit against his bandmates, accusing them of not letting him back into the band after he recovered from injuries in the spring of 2019.

Says TMZ: "Aerosmith's drummer Joey Kramer - who's been with the band since it formed in 1970 - is being kicked around like a rag doll by the other members, who are unfairly blocking him from rejoining the band before some once-in-a-lifetime events... according to a new lawsuit.

"Kramer claims his fellow Aerosmith members - Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford - are going against 50 years of precedent by not allowing him back in the band after a temporary disability... something that's never been done to any of them.

Kramer issued a statement regarding the lawsuit:

"Ever since I was 14 years old, I had a set of drumsticks in my hand and a passion to create music. Being prohibited from playing with a band that I have given 50 years of my life to supporting, is beyond devastating.

"This is not about money. I am being deprived of the opportunity to be recognized along with my peers, for our collective, lifetime contributions to the music industry. Neither the MusiCares' Person of the Year Award nor the Grammys' Lifetime Achievement honors can ever be repeated.

"The fact that I would be asked to audition for my own job, demonstrate that I can play at 'an appropriate level' and play better than my temporary fill-in with a moving target of made-up standards is both insulting and upsetting. Other band members and their lawyers will likely attempt to disparage my playing and claim that I am unable to play the drums right now. Nothing could be further from the truth. I did everything they asked — jumped through hoops and made both a recording of playing along solo to a recent live recording of the band — one I had never heard before, and that process was videotaped. But I did it, and I did it well. In Aerosmith's 50-year history, no other band member has ever been subjected to this scrutiny let alone be asked to audition for his own job!

"I hope our fans can understand that all I'm trying to do is get back to playing with the band that they love — and that's Aerosmith with all five original members. The greatest magic and success of Aerosmith happens when all the band’s founding members are together in the house. To be removed from my rightful place on stage to celebrate our success — a success that acknowledges my own life's work, is just plain wrong."

Kramer's bandmates - Steven Tyler (vocals), Joe Perry (guitars), Tom Hamilton (bass) and Brad Whitford (guitars) - issued a statement regarding the drummer's lawsuit via People.com, which can be read below:

"Joey Kramer is our brother; his well being is of paramount importance to us. However, he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last 6 months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so. Joey has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week. We would be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse. Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events. Given his decisions, he is unfortunately unable to perform but of course we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honor. We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage."

The People report goes on to say a source claims that while Aerosmith felt he wasn’t ready to perform this coming weekend, they did want Kramer by their side at the event:

“They said ‘Please come to MusiCares and Grammys. We’ll take photos and celebrate. You’re our brother,'” says the source. “They just don’t want to risk a performance because he hasn’t been with them in six months.”