AEROSMITH's JOE PERRY: 'I Had Great Hopes Of GUNS N' ROSES Carrying The Torch'

In a brand new interview with USA Today, AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry praised the support act on the band's "Let Rock Rule" tour, ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash, whose former band was once tipped to follow in the footsteps of their Massachusetts hard rock heroes.

"I had great hopes of GUNS N' ROSES carrying the torch," Perry told USA Today. "I talked to Slash a lot about it and asked his advice because of what he's been through. It would be great for the original band to get back together, but it takes more than great songs to keep a band going. Slash has done an amazing job on his own."

Perry told Guitar World magazine that GUNS N' ROSES "were great and really made a mark in rock and roll history. It's a shame that whatever energy they saw in each other on that first record they couldn't sustain. They made a great record and could have been huge all around the world for as long as they wanted."

The guitarist also touched upon the hardships faced by his own group, particularly the period in 2010 when he and his bandmates said they were looking for a singer to replace Steven Tyler who was working on "American Idol" at the time and seemed unable to commit to AEROSMITH.

"Some of us were teenagers when we put this together," Perry told USA Today. "You can't keep five people who grew up together in a rock 'n' roll band and not have some turmoil. It's amazing we kept this thing going. ZZ TOP is the only other band I know of still doing it this long with the original members."

The "Let Rock Rule" tour kicks off on Thursday, July 10 at Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York.

The bill will also stop in cities like Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas and others before coming to a close on September 12 in Canada.

AEROSMITH released its first set of all-original material in 11 years, "Music From Another Dimension!", in 2012, and toured for much of the year after its release.