It was sadly reported earlier this year that legendary Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider would be unable to participate in the band’s scheduled 2026 reunion shows due to health issues. With Snider’s blessing, the band recruited former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach to fill the dates and potentially extend the group’s road plans into 2027.
During an appearance on the “Beardo & Weirdo” podcast with Five Finger Death Punch bassist Chris Kael and comedian Craig Gass, Snider elaborated on the health problems that have forced him to step away from the stage.
“First of all, becoming face-to-face with mortality,” Snider explained. “And as the doctor said to me, ‘Dude, you’re great, amazing for a 71-year-old. But you can’t do that anymore. You’re done. Your body parts are worn out, and you got nothing left.’ And the funniest thing was when the surgeon looked at my X-ray, he said, ‘Do you jump around much?’ ‘Yeah. That’s kind of what I do.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, well, you’re done.’ And so that was the first one. And then when I was going to get a hip replacement and hoping that that would be enough to change things on that level and I could still keep playing, then I was told that I had hypertension and heart issues that — day-to-day living and handling and dealing with it… My dad’s 95, and I’ll be going for a long time, but if I’m gonna go up there and burn rubber on stage and just use it up, so to speak, I had to decide whether or not to stop that. And my family literally had to sit down with me and pretty much begged me to stop. And basically, my kids, they’re, like, ‘Why are you doing this? What do you got to prove? It’s not a financial thing for you. You’ve got everything that you ever dreamed of, everything you wanted. It’s pure ego.'”
Snider continued: “Also — I blame Bruce Dickinson. I’m blaming Bruce Dickinson because when I found out that my hip was shot, I get a call from Bruce. I hadn’t spoken to him since the ‘Powerslave’ tour. And he reaches out to say, ‘Dee,’ he said, ‘I’ve had it done twice.’ He goes, ‘And I’m back in action.’ And I said, ‘You’re back in action?’ Now mind you, I think Bruce is 10 years younger than me. I said, ‘You’re back in action?’ He says, ‘Yeah, man. I’m thrusting, I’m parrying.’ I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about the band?’ ‘Oh, yeah, the band too. But I’m fencing, man.’ All he cared about was that he was still thrusting and parrying. But when I heard him say, ‘Okay, back in action a hundred percent,’ I was, like, ‘All right, I could do this.’ And that’s when I was going for the surgery that I found out that I had a heart issue that I did not know about. And that was when they pulled the rug out from under me. And then I still — like an asshole — so I got the hip. It was better. I’m, like, ‘You know what? I’m going out there. I wanna test it out.’ Lita Ford had asked me to do a few songs with her, like I used to do with Bret Michaels and stuff. So I go up there on stage and I walk out on stage and I’m going, ‘Damn, this thing feels good.’ I’m thrusting and I’m parrying — bounce, bounce, bounce, and the knee goes. Three bounces — knee goes. And I’m, like, ‘Whoa. Son of a bitch.’ And I’m just hearing that surgeon going, ‘You’re done. You’re done. You’re done.'”
Snider said that at 71, keeping up with his once rigorous exercise routine just isn’t feasible anymore. “And here’s the last thing I’m gonna say about this,” Snider said. “When Twisted Sister retired in 2016 — that was 10 years ago — I had a 29-inch waist, I weighed 175 pounds. I had an eight-pack. I’m ripped to shreds. At 61 years old I am ripped to shreds and I am performing at my peak. And it was a friend of mine said, ‘You really wanna go back 10 years later? You know you can’t take your shirt off. You know you ain’t got no 29-inch waist. That ship sailed a few inches ago.’ And he goes, ‘You can’t possibly compare to that. You went out on a high note. You were 61. You said, ‘Goodbye, everybody.’ And now you’re gonna come back 10 years later and suck?’ And I may not suck, but that was besides the health issues. Even if I go out there, I’m 10 years older. I’m 10 years more worn out.”
Check out Snider’s full appearance below.
