JOEY KRAMER Could Be Back On Stage With AEROSMITH Very Soon

According to TMZ, Joey Kramer has been working with his AEROSMITH bandmates Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford the past several days to help him return to his spot on the drums.

Kramer sued the rest of AEROSMITH last month in a bid to perform with this bandmates at two Grammy-related events. But a Massachusetts judge eventually ruled against him and the group played without Kramer.

After Kramer injured his shoulder last year, his drum tech filled in for a few gigs during AEROSMITH's residency in Las Vegas. Kramer did, however, perform with the rest of AEROSMITH in July at the Twin Cities Summer Jam in Shakopee.

Sources tell TMZ that "Joey has been practicing to get his skills back to where they were before his absence, and once Kramer proves he's up to the task ... the fellas will let him back in to start beating the skins again."

AEROSMITH has four residency shows in Vegas scheduled for this month beginning with the February 8 concert at Park Theater at Park MGM.

In his 16-page complaint filed in Massachusetts state court, Kramer said the disability he suffered last year was minor, and insisted he was ready to return to the group's "lucrative" Las Vegas residency at the MGM Resorts a few months later, as well as its slate of "50th anniversary activities."

Tyler, Perry, Hamilton and Whitford later responded to Kramer's suit in a statement to People, saying Joey "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."

In a statement, Kramer said he was "extremely disappointed" with the judge's ruling.

"I knew filing a lawsuit was a bit of an uphill battle," the drummer said. "I can hold my head high knowing that I did the right thing — to fight for my right to celebrate the band’s success that I have dedicated the better part of my life to helping build."