Steven Tyler: My Fall Wasn't Alcohol-Related

News broke yesterday that Steven Tyler took a nasty tumble in his South American hotel room that left him bruised and in need of stitches. Given the singer's public battle with booze, everyone began to wonder if the fall in the shower had anything to do with him falling off the wagon.

This morning, Tyler called into NBC's Today show to set the record straight, telling Matt Lauer, drinking "is not the issue."

"Being in the program that I'm in, its something I have to accept," he said this morning. "I went public with my problems to address them straight on. People thinking that is natural and normal -- it's nothing that I don't understand. I get that people think that. It bothers me a little, but it's something I have to deal with for the rest of my life."

So what really happened? Tyler explains: "Quite frankly, I passed out. I was in the shower, I got nauseous, I started to get sick, I fell on my face," he said. "What's it called when you eat something ... Montezuma's revenge. I took a walk with the Inca's for 48 hours. I walked in looking like [Mikhail] Baryshnikov and walked out looking like Leon Spinks."

Tyler was found by his manager, who called the American embassy and brought the American Idol judge to the best local hospital. "It was like one stop shopping," Tyler said. "They stitched up my eye, they did a little plastic surgery and they fixed my tooth all in one fell swoop."

But what does this accident mean for the rest of Aerosmith's South American tour? The singer reassured their fans that the show will go on! "Short of having my leg taken off, people can expect me to hit the stage no matter what!"

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