"Here's to Hell. May we have as much fun there as we had getting there": watch Steven Tyler, Slash and Dave Grohl serenade Howard Stern at his 60th birthday celebrations

Steven Tyler, Dave Grohl and Slash onstage together in 2014 — (Image credit: The Howard Stern Show SiriusXM)

Howard Stern's 60th birthday bash, held on January 31, 2014 at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, was quite the party. Guests in attendance to celebrate with the infamous 'shock jock' at the four-and-a-half hour concert included - deep breath - Steven Tyler, Dave Grohl, Slash, Jon Bon Jovi, Rob Zombie, John Fogerty, Robert Downey Jr, David Letterman, Heidi Klum, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Cyndi Lauper, Tracy Morgan and more. And the climax of the night saw Tyler, Grohl and Slash form a supergroup with Californian pop-rock band Train to cover Aerosmith classic Walk This Way.

Before this once-in-a-lifetime show-stopping collaboration, a number of guests performed for Stern. John Bon Jovi sang Wanted Dead Or Alive, John Fogerty performed Creedence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising and Fortunate Son, Maroon 5's Adam Levine covered Prince's Purple Rain, and Jewel performed Silver Nickels and Golden Dimes, a song Stern wrote in 6th grade while fronting his own band, the Electric Comic Book.

Dave Grohl performed two solo acoustic songs on the night, Everlong and My Hero, both originally featured on the Foo Fighters' second album, The Colour and The Shape. Grohl also revealed that playing Everlong on Stern's show in 1998 - the first time he ever performed it on an acoustic guitar - gave Foo Fighters a huge profile boost in America. “I honestly wouldn’t be here today had I not done that,” he said.

A white piano was then wheeled onstage so that Steven Tyler could play Aerosmith's Dream On with Train.

"Howard, what a long and strange trip this has been," said Tyler. "Here's to you, and here's to Hell. May we have as much fun there as we had getting there."

"And we'll be there," Stern laughed.

Towards the end of Tyler's performance, he called out "Slash, baby!" at which point the Guns N' Roses guitarist emerged to play a typically epic guitar solo.

To provide what Tyler called "the icing on the end of the cake", Dave Grohl then jumped behind the drum kit to play Walk This Way with Tyler and Slash, with Rob Zombie later appearing from the wings to join in on the chorus.

“When I look around this room, I am overwhelmed," Stern said as the night drew to a close. "I mean this, it was the most incredible night of my life."

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.