Dee Snider Speaks on Relationship With Twisted Sister Since Band Ended, Talks What Bon Jovi & Zakk Wylde Took From His Band

“Bon Jovi on their album cover, they got it from Twisted.”

During an appearance on Metal Godz Radio, Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider discussed his current relationship with the group since the guys called it a day in 2016, legacy rock acts, and more.

When the interviewer said, “Several bands have had second lives, I know that Aerosmith is a band that has had a second life,” Dee replied (transcribed by UG):

“Yeah, I feel like they always keep getting attached to that one. Scorpions – I was a Scorpions fan back in the ’70s, they had a whole thing, including an amazing live album, and then they came out back with a second life with the [1982] ‘Blackout’ record, and all of a sudden, there was like a rebirth for them.

“So yeah, it’s strange that the bands that are really good sometimes recreate themselves, reinvent themselves. Look at Whitesnake! They were almost this blues-based metal-hard-rock band with former members of Deep Purple, and a whole different lineup…

“Then Coverdale comes back years later with his pretty boy big-haired band, and ‘Here I Go Again.’ Actually, playing that song that he recorded years before with the original band.”

That kind of thing just doesn’t happen anymore.

“You know what, I can’t say for sure on that, but if you tell me, you’re the radio guy. I’d like to think I’m doing it! I know people in the metal community, the newer metal…

“The last two records I put out are contemporary, my feet are still from where I come from but at the same time very new-sounding, very fresh-sounding.

“And I’m seeing myself on all these Spotify metal lists with these heaviest of bands. And Dee Snider at 66, or as I like to say – 66 6, the most metal of ages, I suddenly got new, younger metal fans who are getting turned on to me because my stuff sounds fresh and new.”

Speaking of Twisted Sister, obviously, running your own show is always the better option because being in that band setting which can be difficult to have to listen to somebody else’s opinion, or maybe your opinion doesn’t get the love that you expect it to…

“Well, for the record, I and the Twisted guys were retired in 2016. We’re friends, we talk all the time. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a live stream event happening on the 29th, people who want to see – here’s some music from Dee Snider, new stuff, and old stuff with my new project in front of a thousand vaccinated and tested fans, shoulder to shoulder.

“It’s just old school as hell. And then it’s going to be running for about a month repeating, so you can check it out after if you can’t make it on the 29th.

“But Mark the Animal Mendoza, my bass player, shows up and we do a classic Twisted song called ‘Under the Blade’ together, and it’s a very heavy song but we’re just smiling ear to ear just to be together.

“But the thing I miss is the gang mentality, us against the world kind of thing. Twisted Sister famously had our Twisted Sister colors, as we called them – motorcycle jackets we wore.

“Black Label got it from us, Bon Jovi on their album cover, they got it from Twisted, they’re all Twisted fans. So we used to walk around, we felt like we were a gang. And sometimes you went into a new town, you were grossly outnumbered, and it was nice to have your boys standing by you.”