Steven Tyler: I Have Hepatitis C

After years of living on the edge Steven Tyler reveals his lifestyle has caught up with him. Here’s more:

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler has been secretly battling hepatitis C – a serious viral infection of the blood, often associated with used needles, the New York Daily News reports.

In an Access Hollywood interview airing tomorrow night, Tyler, 58, admits that he was diagnosed three years ago but "I’ve had hepatitis C for a long time, asymptomatic."

"I’ve been pretty quiet about this," says the admitted former drug addict. "The band took a break about three years ago. … [My doctor] said now is the time, and it’s 11 months of chemotherapy" – actually, interferon, which strengthens the immune system – "so I went on that, and it about killed me."

Tyler adds: "You know, it really hurt. It was a bad, bad period. I’m in AA, and I tried to go three, four, five months with nothing, and it about killed me."

As Tyler underwent interferon therapy, his marriage of 18 years to fashion designer Teresa Barrick suffered. The couple, who have two children, divorced earlier this year. "I had a little problem at home, to say the least," he says, "and I would run upstairs at night, you know, to put the kids asleep and wake up at 3 in the morning with a nosebleed – you know, just passed out from the interferon, the treatment. It’s a shot and pills and all of that. But the good news is I stood the test of time."

About 4.5 million Americans suffer from hepatitis C, which can cause lead to scarring and cirrhosis of the liver.

"It’s the silent killer," Tyler says. "I may go on Oprah and talk about this."

Tyler isn’t the only celebrity to suffer from hepatitis C. In 2002, Pamela Anderson announced that she had contracted the disease after sharing tattoo needles with ex-husband Tommy Lee.