Tyler admits to having hepatitis C

Rock singer Steven Tyler says he was diagnosed with hepatitis C three years ago after having the illness for a long time without any symptoms.

In an interview that was to air Tuesday on “Access Hollywood,” the 58-year-old Aerosmith frontman said the infection was now “nonexistent” in his bloodstream after 11 months of treatment, including the drug interferon.

Hepatitis C is a liver disease spread by contact with the blood of an infected person, according to the website for the Centers for Disease Control, which recommends testing for intravenous drug users and transfusion recipients, among others.

Drugs and alcohol nearly destroyed Tyler’s music career, but he said in 2004 that he had been clean and sober for nearly two decades and was living proof that addictions can be conquered.