Joe Perry recovering in hospital after Billy Joel concert at MSG

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry was awake and recovering in a New York City hospital Sunday after a health scare at Madison Square Garden the night before.

"Following a guest performance during Billy Joel's show last night at Madison Square Garden, Joe Perry experienced shortness of breath and was treated backstage by paramedics who gave the guitarist oxygen and used a tracheal tube to clear his airway before taking him to a hospital," a representative for the 68-year-old Perry said in a statement. "This morning Perry remains in the hospital where he is alert and responsive. The Aerosmith guitarist will be unable to appear today at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp in Florida and apologizes to those attending. Perry is expected to return to the road later this month."

After Perry and Joel, 69, had performed the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way," eyewitnesses told TMZ.com, Perry became ill in his backstage dressing room. The site said paramedics administered care for approximately 40 minutes before moving him by stretcher to an ambulance for transport to a hospital.

TMZ said Joel, who remained onstage for the final minutes of the concert, was unaware of events backstage.

Neither Perry nor bandmates Steven Tyler, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer or Brad Whitford has commented on social media, nor has the band on Aerosmith's Twitter, Instagram or Facebook accounts.

In July 2016, Perry was performing with Johnny Depp's band the Hollywood Vampires at the Ford Amphitheater on the Coney Island Boardwalk when he staggered offstage. A subsequent message on his Twitter page said, "Thanks to all of the fans reaching out and asking about Joe. He is stable right now, with family and is under the best care."

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Aerosmith in August announced a Las Vegas residency, Deuces Are Wild, with 18 dates at the Park MGM's Park Theater in April, June and July 2019. Perry last month separately announced a solo tour from Nov. 30 to Dec. 16, including a Dec. 4 date at PlayStation Theater in New York, in support of his album "Sweetzerland Manifesto."