Earlier this month it was sadly announced that ‘80s rock icons Twisted Sister had to cancel reunion dates set for this year. Snider said that health issues would keep him from performing at 100%, and rather than give fans an abridged version of their once trademark live show, he and the band decided to call it a day.
Snider said: “I don’t know of any other way to rock. The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I’d rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self.’ In the immortal words of Dirty Harry, ‘A man’s got to know his limitations.’”
On his long-running “House Of Hair” syndicated radio show, Snider provided an update to his health, and says that although he won’t be active on stage, he’ll be staying busy with plenty of other projects. “Hey, everybody. It’s me, Dee Snider, and I’m not dying,” he explained. “No, not never — I mean, we’re all dying, but not immediately.My announcement about canceling the tour for health reasons, problems with my heart, arthritis, things like that, the rumors have run wild that I am on my deathbed. I am not. I just can’t do those things that I did in my twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and even sixties. All right? Otherwise, I’m alive and well. I’m enjoying life. I’m here for the ‘House Of Hair’. I’m directing a movie. I’ll be writing things. You won’t see me on the stage kicking ass like I used to because that will mess me up.”
Snider continued: “Someone just told me, ‘Hey, man, could you just go out on stage and lay back?’ No, I can’t do that. That’s not who I am. Look, I can barely do that on the ‘House Of Hair’. So, I had to pull out of Twisted Sister. I had to cancel a tour. My apologies for that. And thank you for all the love and care and worry and all that stuff. It was crazy. I mean, the amount of people, the outpouring was beautiful. Thank you very much for cheering me on.”
“I’m okay. I just can’t do that anymore,” Snider added. “And you know what? Truth of the matter is, I don’t want you to see me up there being less than you expect me to be. If you got memories of a great show that I did, that’s what I wanna leave you with, not me standing up there like Willie Nelson. Nothing wrong with Willie — 95 years old in a wheelchair — but you know what I’m saying. I went out rocking. I’m still rocking here. I ain’t stopping. I got a lot of life to live. My dad’s 95 and still kicking, so I’m expecting to be around for a long time, which means the ‘House Of Hair’ will go on forever. All right. Don’t worry about old Dee. Thank you.”
