‘IT’S STILL THERE’

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler Urges Tourists to Go Back to Maui

“Everything’s beautiful, except we gotta come there and make it more beautiful, OK?” said the rocker, who owns a home on the island.

On the opening night of Aerosmith’s farewell tour, Steven Tyler got behind the microphone to encourage tourists to return to Maui in the wake of wildfires that ravaged the island last month. Tyler, who owns property on Maui, made the entreaty at Saturday night’s Philadelphia show, just before the band launched into the opening strains of “Dream On,” according to the Associated Press. “When you think about Lahaina, think about south Maui,” the 75-year-old rocker said. “Paia and Hana: it’s still there,” he added, referring to two other Maui resort towns unscathed by the fires. “It’s a place to go and do, you know, the love thing. It’s still open, it’s still happening. Everything’s beautiful, except we gotta come there and make it more beautiful, OK?” After the wind-driven fires swept through Lahaina in early August, killing at least 115 people, Hawaiian officials asked tourists to keep away as the island recovered. They have since reversed that recommendation, even as rescuers continue to comb through desecrated structures for the 385 people who remain on the government’s official list of missing persons.