Legendary Aerosmith frontrunner Steven Tyler used a trademark accessory used to wrap his microphone stands to officially herald the opening of a new facility that welcomes girls who are victims of neglect and abuse.
On Monday, the Grammy Award-winner conducted a scarf-cutting ceremony to open Janie's House in Memphis, Tennessee, inspired by the song, "Janie's Got a Gun"— the band's second single from their album Pump from 1989 with themes centered around child abuse and incest.
"This does my heart and my soul good," said the 70-year-old at the ceremony. "This is real."
Tyler's organization, Janie's Fund, which he founded in 2015, donated $500,000 towards renovating the home that will act as a safe space and offer therapy for young women who have been abused.
The origin for Janie's House has roots going back to when the singer was in treatment and witnessed first-hand the effects on abused victims. He felt an obligation to do something.
"While I was there, all the girls I met had been abused either physically, mentally or verbally, or at least 90 percent of them all."
"So when I got out of there, I laid it all on Janie. I said what are you going to do?"
Twitter agrees. His philanthropy rocks.
Fans were moved by Tyler channeling his personal healing to help others.
How can you help? Look no further. You can visit the Janiesfund.org website and make a donation.
Tyler said "Janie's Got a Gun" took nine months to write, although he knew the title and melody of the song beforehand. He connected the song with child abuse after reading a Newsweek article on gun violence.
In the song, the girl shoots and kills her sexually abusive father, with the original lyrics changing from "He raped a little bitty baby," to "He jacked a little bitty baby," for commercial purposes.
"I got really angry that nobody was paying homage to those who were abused by Mom and Dad," he told Billboard.
This is the second Janie's House to open – after the first location in Atlanta – and can accommodate up to 14 girls until they're ready to return back to society. "It's God. Look at the sun," said Tyler at the scarf-cutting. "Just when the world seems over, you can turn into a butterfly."
Now that, my friends, is some "Sweet Emotion."
