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Aerosmith frontman speaks of Slavic roots, love for Russian borscht

The Boston-based band will give a concert marking the Russian capital’s 868th anniversary on Lubyanka Square in central Moscow

Steven Tyler AP Photo/Wade Payne

Steven Tyler

© AP Photo/Wade Payne

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MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/. Steven Tyler, frontman of legendary American rock band Aerosmith, declared himself a fan of Russian cuisine at a Moscow news conference ahead of a concert marking the Russian capital’s 868th anniversary.

"My grandmother is German and grandfather is Ukrainian. They met when Ukraine and Russia were one country," Tyler said, noting his love of borscht, a beetroot soup common to both Russia and Ukraine. "Tonight I’ll go to Dr. Zhivago restaurant to eat Russian food," he added.

The Boston-based band, founded in 1970, will give a 90-minute concert on a huge 50 metre-wide stage installed on Lubyanka Square in central Moscow in the form of a Moscow "Stalin skyscraper" and likened by the musician to a Hollywood film set.

Other Aerosmith members said they rated it an honour to perform in Moscow and were impressed with the Russian capital’s size.

Aerosmith is known as the best-selling American rock band of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide, including over 70 million in the United States alone.

The band has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, put both on Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

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