How close did the other members of Aerosmith actually come to replacing Steven Tyler (under a new band name) when they found out the singer was going to be spending part of his time judging 'American Idol?' Close enough to call Sammy Hagar, apparently.

In last night's (Sept. 1) episode of 'That Metal Show,' Brad Whitford reveals that the other four members briefly considered changing their name and working with another singer. "We had to talk about it, we're just ready to work all the time," he explains. So they thought, "Well, maybe we could put a different name on it and bring somebody else in. It's impossible to fill Steven's shoes, that's not gonna happen."

The guitarist went on to reveal that they "spoke to a couple of people that were semi-interested." When pressed for names by host Eddie Trunk, Whitford mentioned a logical candidate: "Well, we spoke to Sammy, and he was really excited about it. I love Sammy, and I was like, 'Oh man this would be so cool!' (But) it all started to come back together on its own (with Tyler), like it was going to and should have."

In retrospect, Whitford thinks the somewhat compressed schedule Aerosmith was forced to work at on their upcoming album 'Music from Another Dimension' may have been a blessing in disguise. "We've had this band for some 40 years, and we've been used to doing things at our own pace. 'American Idol' forced us to be much more focused and much more disciplined... and I think it actually helped us out in terms of a work ethic."