What Is Joey Kramer's Net Worth?
Joey Kramer is an American musician who has a net worth of $100 million. Joey Kramer is best known for being a member of the band Aerosmith. Joey is actually credited with coming up with the band's name. He reportedly conceived of the name in 1968, two years before the band formed, while listening to the Harry Nilsson album "Ariel Ballet." In 1970, Joey reconnected with a friend, Steven Tyler, who had recently joined forces with Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton and were in need of a drummer for a band. This was the birth of the band that would become known as Aerosmith. In 1973, the band released their self-titled debut album and took to the road. Their endless roadwork paid off in Platinum albums and exploded into sold out pandemonium culminating before massive crowds of over 80,000 at the legendary Texxas Jam and to a sea of over 350,000 at the famous CAL Jam in 1978. Over the next several decades, Aerosmith would go on to sell more than 150 million albums worldwide and would conduct dozens of extremely successful tours.
Joey has been known to amuse concert goers during his drum solos by striking the drums with his arms, elbows and even his forehead. For more than 30 years, he has combined emotional feel with technical virtuosity to convey the musical ideas of his band mates in Aerosmith while evolving into one of rock's greatest drummers. His meticulous timing and solid grooves have contributed as much to the sound of Aerosmith albums such as "Toys In The Attic," "Rocks," "Permanent Vacation," "Pump," and "Just Push Play" as Steven Tyler's voice and Joe Perry's guitar. Kramer published the book "Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top" in 2009, and the following year, the iPhone game "Joey Kramer Hit Hard" was released. In 2001, Joey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Aerosmith.
Early Life
Joey Kramer was born Joseph Michael Kramer on June 21, 1950, in the Bronx, New York City. He is the son of Doris Kramer and businessman Mickey Kramer. Joey grew up in a Jewish household and had a bar mitzvah. In the early '70s, Kramer was in New Jersey garage band The Institution, and in 1970, Bruce Springsteen's band, Steel Mill, opened for them at Newark State College. Before joining Aerosmith, Joey enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
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Career
Aerosmith has released 15 studio albums, and 11 of them have gone Platinum or higher in the U.S. "Get a Grip" (1993) and "Nine Lives" (1997) reached #1 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. The band has had eight top 10 hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, with "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" reaching #1. Kramer is credited as a writer on the songs "Pandora's Box," "Kings and Queens," "The Hand That Feeds," "The Hop," "The Movie," "Krawhitham," "Beautiful," "Lover Alot," "Can't Stop Lovin' You," and "Closer." Joey suffered a shoulder injury in 2019, and a few months later, he told numerous news websites that the band had not allowed him to rejoin them despite his recovery. The band responded that Kramer's playing was "not up to Aerosmith standards." Joey subsequently sued for breach of contract due to the band barring him from performing at the Grammys with them, but a Massachusetts court denied his request for an injunction to force the band to let him join them for their performances at the Grammy Awards and MusiCares Person of the Year ceremony. Kramer has voiced himself in two episodes of "The Simpsons," 1991's "Flaming Moe's" and 2011's "The Ned-Liest Catch," and in 2015, "Simpsons-ized" action figures of all the members of Aerosmith were released by NECA. Joey also appeared in the films "Wayne's World 2" (1993) and "Be Cool" (2005) alongside his bandmates.
Personal Life
Joey and his first wife, April, were married from 1979 until late 2007. Their son, Jesse, filled in for Joey during Aerosmith's 2014 tour when Kramer was recovering from a minor medical procedure. Joey wed his second wife, Linda, on October 5, 2009, and they remained together until her death in June 2022. Three months before Linda's death, Aerosmith had announced that Joey would be taking a temporary leave of absence from performing with the band to "focus his full attention on his family during these uncertain times."
In a 2013 interview with radio station WAAF, Joey spoke about preparing to go on tour with Aerosmith, stating, "I'm in the gym every day, Monday through Friday. And I train really hard to go out and do a tour. So that, basically, what I'm doing with my trainer is that I train harder in the gym than the amount of energy that I expend on the stage. So by the time I'm ready to go out on the road, doing a show is a whole lot easier. And at the end of a show, or at the end of a tour, I feel really good."
In 2013, Kramer teamed up with Comfort Foods, Inc. for his own organic line of coffee called Rockin' & Roastin' Coffee. Two years later, he entered into a business partnership with Boston Red Sox former vice chairman Les Otten to open two Joey Kramer's Rockin' & Roastin' Café and Restaurants in Maine and Massachusetts. By 2017, both locations had closed.
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Aerosmith Awards and Nominations
Aerosmith has won four Grammys out of 17 nominations: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Janie's Got a Gun" (1991), "Livin' on the Edge" (1994), "Crazy" (1995), and "Pink" (1999). The band has won 10 MTV Video Music Awards, six American Music Awards, four "Billboard" Music Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, two Denmark GAFFA Awards, and two Boston Music Awards as well as a BMI Pop Award, ASCAP Pop Music Award, Soul Train Music Award, and MTV Movie Award.
Real Estate
In 2016, Joey and Linda purchased a 7,700-square-foot home in Boerne, Texas. They put the four-bedroom home on the market for $3.9 million in 2018. The estate sits on 14 acres of land and includes four full bathrooms and two half-baths. In 2017, the couple listed their 7,097-square-foot home near Austin, Texas, for $2.235 million. The home was built in 2002 and features five bedrooms. A 1,200-square-foot guest house is located near the main house.
