Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton (pictured below) has been forced to leave the band's Australian tour due to illness. He has returned to the U.S. after falling ill with a chest infection. David Hull, who has stood in for Hamilton on previous Aerosmith tours, is taking Tom's place for the remaining two shows in Australia — in Brisbane on May 1 and Melbourne on May 4.

Hamilton, who has successfully battled cancer in recent years, told Australia's Tone Deaf that he's amped up for the band to record the follow-up to last year's "Music From Another Dimension!" album, saying, "I am looking to go back into the studio and do another record but under certain conditions. (I'm tired of) examining every single detail of a record . . . (I'd like to) slap on the bass, get the drums rockin' and the guitars blazing with Steve (Tyler) on those vocals with melodies and harmonies."

Although some members of Aerosmith were critical of Tyler's decision to join Fox's "American Idol" for the 2011-2012 season, Hamilton was unfazed by it. "Steven did a cool thing on that program," he said. "I knew he was going to be good on that show because there's a lot of his personality that we in the band have seen for years. His sense of humor and quirky personality has always been hidden to audiences."

Hamilton told The Pulse Of Radio why he felt it was crucial for Aerosmith to hit the studio and record "Music From Another Dimension!" "I've been waiting for this for so long, because I so want to be known as a band that is still firing on all cylinders," he said. "We could go out and work every year and just play, you know, all our same old songs year after year, but it would have been a very uneasy feeling to me to think about not ever having an album of new material out."

"Music From Another Dimension!" was released on November 6, 2012, and debuted at No. 5 on The Billboard 200 album chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week of release.

The group's last collection of new songs, 2001's "Just Push Play", entered the chart at No. 2 with sales of 240,000 copies.