Liv Tyler was about 11 years old when she looked at Steven Tyler’s poster on her bedroom wall and something didn’t add up.
Until then, the man listed as her father was Todd Rundgren, the musician who signed her birth certificate and gave her his last name, although she knew there was a possibility he wasn’t her father.
Her mother, Bebe Buell, had a brief affair with the Aerosmith frontman in late 1976, and the two adults made a pact: Rundgren would be her dad and, if it ever became an issue, they would tell her when she was 18.
The girl didn’t wait that long. According to what she said on the Sibling Revelry podcast, her mother still keeps a diary page on which she wrote something like “I think Steven is my dad”.
In August 1988, at an Aerosmith concert, she confronted Bebe, who burst into tears, and that’s when she realized something was going on. That night, she also met her half-sister, Mia Tyler. A paternity test confirmed it later.
As for Rundgren, Liv says she always knew he wasn’t her biological father, that it was difficult for him, and that she still loves him.