“Why am I doing a reunion with Twisted Sister?” Dee Snider says when asked. “I’ll say that it was my idea.”
In his first interview since announcing the band’s 50th anniversary reunion tour in September, Snider tells Steve and Rik’s Potcast why he took a chance on getting the band back together for the first time since 2016.
“The guys couldn’t even believe I was making the call. And it had to do with… I had a little bit of a health scare,” Snider reveals. “It was okay, but it was enough to make me say, ‘Wow, that was weird.’ I never had to think about those things before.
"And I’m 70 years old, and I’m, like, ‘Do I wanna go out like that, go silently, or do I wanna go kicking and screaming?’”
The band joins other acts — including Oasis, Journey and the Guess Who (featuring Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings) — who have made the decision to return to the road after years of dormancy.
Twisted Sister burst on the hair metal scene in 1984 with the singles "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock.” The music videos for both tunes saw heavy rotation on MTV, making the band a sensation in that network’s early years.
The twin electric guitar assault of Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda made the group a favorite of young metalhead, as did the band’s lyrics, which helped them ride the early 1980s rising tide of anti-establishment music.
But by 2016, Snider had enough. The 2015 death of drummer A.J. Pero seemed to spell the end of the group. They undertook their final tour, titled 40 and Fuck It, the following year.
So it came as a surprise to Snider’s bandmates when he suggested a reunion.
“I asked, What do you think about getting together?’ he recalls. “And they couldn’t believe I was suggesting it, because I told them, it’s not happening, will never happen,”
“But… emotional circumstances made me change my mind. Am I regretting it? A little bit right now, sorry to say.”
The reason has to do with age. While Snider says his voice is still in top form, the wear and tear of touring are a different matter altogether.
“I’m great for four songs, but 90 minutes, 75 minutes, 60 minutes. That’s a lot,” he admits.
“But, yeah, it’s a lot to carry.”
To prepare, he plans to start rehearsing now “with a local band,” he says, “just to get going.”
“I never wanna be that guy where people go, ‘Yeah, time’s passed,’ and make people feel old just looking at me onstage,” Snider adds. “I feel a great weight to make sure I’m in shape, to make sure my voice is in shape and start rehearsing those three, four, five, 10 songs, to get there and not let people down. I don’t wanna do it.”
Twisted Sister’s complete tour lineup is still taking shape, but some dates have been posted on the band’s Instagram page. Shows include the Barcelona Rock Fest from July 3 to 5, as well as festivals in Europe and dates in the U.S.
