Twisted Sister frontman, Dee Snider, spoke to eonmusic about his thoughts on the band’s future plans, following their one-off on stage 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.
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 the staples "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll", "Under The Blade" and "We're Not Gonna Take It".
When asked what it’s like to be back fronting Twisted Sister for one night only, Dee was in gregarious form, as usual; “Well, we tested it last night, and apparently you CAN forget how to ride a bicycle!,” he joked. “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 last Twisted Sister 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 returns, 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. For the full story, head here.
