Dee Snider has spoken to eonmusic about his thoughts on the band’s future plans, following their one-off reunion at the Metal Hall of Fame in Agoura Hills, California. The singer was speaking ahead of the New York band’s induction at the event, which took place at The Canyon Club on Thursday night (26th January 2023).
Officially retired, Twisted Sister last performed in 2016. On hand to accept the award at the event were Snider, guitarist Jay Jay French, bassist Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza’, and Mike Portnoy, who played drums for the band after the passing of founder member A.J. Pero. Guitarist Eddie Ojeda was absent due to contracting COVID.
The highlight of the event which also saw Foreigner singer Lou Gramm, NWOBHM heroes Raven, and guitarists Chris Impellitteri and Doug Aldrich honoured, Twisted Sister performed a highly-charged three song set which included staples ‘You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll’, and ‘Under the Blade’, as well as unstoppable anthem ‘We’re Not Gonna to Take it’.
When asked what it’s like to be back fronting Twisted Sister for one night only, Dee was in gregarious form said; “Well, we tested it last night, and apparently you CAN forget how to ride a bicycle!” He continued; “No, it was great. Somebody said that they never saw Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza smile so much. So, we had a great time last night, and we’re looking forward to tonight”.
Going on to crack wise about the time elapsed since the band’s last performance, Snider said; “Since then I’ve eaten a lot of pancakes and muffins, so I’m not quite as fit as I was!”
Speaking more sincerely for a second, he continued; “But you know, it’s fun; I love these guys, and that was one of the best things about reuniting; was becoming friends again, and we ARE friends”.
When asked the obvious question of; “are you going to go forward with anything else, or is this just a one-off?”, the singer was emphatic. “A hard ‘no plans. No plans at all to do that ”, he said.
Going on to reference both Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe’s retirement and return, he added; “You know, I ‘ve said when people retire they should leave the stage, and all those bands, I’m tired of buying ‘No More Tours’ shirts and seeing people signing contracts in blood and then they show up three years later. I don’t believe in that bullshit, so I don’t think it’s going to happen”.
Eonmusic also spoke with Jay Jay French, and Mike Portnoy about the induction.
On what it’s like to be ‘Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister’ once again, the guitarist said; “You know, you live in two different worlds; one is the life you live, and the other is ‘this’; this is amazing. It’s always been amazing. If you’re on stage in front of 100,000 people and they’re singing ‘We’re Not Gonna to Take it’, it does not suck, and to think that it does you’d have to be out of your mind”.
When asked what it was like to go back into rehearsal for the show, French said; “Oh god, I hit the first two chords, and it all just kind of comes out. That’s because the band’s played over 9,000 shows, and when you play that many shows, it’s in your DNA”.
Finally, Mike Portnoy said about his performing with the band once again; “It’s definitely wild. I mean, there’s a picture of me in my high school yearbook wearing a Twisted Sister shirt, so it’s pretty cool”.
The Winery Dogs player then revealed that the rehearsal went beyond the three songs that they were readying for the event. “We had a great time playing yesterday, playing more songs than we’re going to be playing tonight, just for the fun of it”.
The Metal Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization that enshrines iconic musicians, artists, music industry executives who are responsible for making Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music what it is today. For more, visit metalhalloffame.org.
The highlight of the event which also saw Foreigner singer Lou Gramm, NWOBHM heroes Raven, and guitarists Chris Impellitteri and Doug Aldrich honoured, Twisted Sister performed a highly-charged three song set which included staples ‘You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll’, and ‘Under the Blade’, as well as unstoppable anthem ‘We’re Not Gonna to Take it’.
When asked what it’s like to be back fronting Twisted Sister for one night only, Dee was in gregarious form said; “Well, we tested it last night, and apparently you CAN forget how to ride a bicycle!” He continued; “No, it was great. Somebody said that they never saw Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza smile so much. So, we had a great time last night, and we’re looking forward to tonight”.
Going on to crack wise about the time elapsed since the band’s last performance, Snider said; “Since then I’ve eaten a lot of pancakes and muffins, so I’m not quite as fit as I was!”
Speaking more sincerely for a second, he continued; “But you know, it’s fun; I love these guys, and that was one of the best things about reuniting; was becoming friends again, and we ARE friends”.
When asked the obvious question of; “are you going to go forward with anything else, or is this just a one-off?”, the singer was emphatic. “A hard ‘no plans. No plans at all to do that ”, he said.
Going on to reference both Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe’s retirement and return, he added; “You know, I ‘ve said when people retire they should leave the stage, and all those bands, I’m tired of buying ‘No More Tours’ shirts and seeing people signing contracts in blood and then they show up three years later. I don’t believe in that bullshit, so I don’t think it’s going to happen”.
Eonmusic also spoke with Jay Jay French, and Mike Portnoy about the induction.
On what it’s like to be ‘Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister’ once again, the guitarist said; “You know, you live in two different worlds; one is the life you live, and the other is ‘this’; this is amazing. It’s always been amazing. If you’re on stage in front of 100,000 people and they’re singing ‘We’re Not Gonna to Take it’, it does not suck, and to think that it does you’d have to be out of your mind”.
When asked what it was like to go back into rehearsal for the show, French said; “Oh god, I hit the first two chords, and it all just kind of comes out. That’s because the band’s played over 9,000 shows, and when you play that many shows, it’s in your DNA”.
Finally, Mike Portnoy said about his performing with the band once again; “It’s definitely wild. I mean, there’s a picture of me in my high school yearbook wearing a Twisted Sister shirt, so it’s pretty cool”.
The Winery Dogs player then revealed that the rehearsal went beyond the three songs that they were readying for the event. “We had a great time playing yesterday, playing more songs than we’re going to be playing tonight, just for the fun of it”.
The Metal Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization that enshrines iconic musicians, artists, music industry executives who are responsible for making Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music what it is today. For more, visit metalhalloffame.org.
