On February 5th, Twisted Sister announced the cancellation of their 50th Anniversary Celebration Performances, stating, “Due to the sudden and unexpected resignation of Twisted Sister’s lead singer Dee Snider brought on by a series of health challenges, the band has been forced to cancel all shows scheduled, beginning April 25th in Sao Paulo, Brazil and continuing through the summer. The future of Twisted Sister will be determined in the next several weeks.”
In addition to the cancellation message, Twisted Sister added, “A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider’s body and soul. Unbeknownst to the public (until now) Snider (70) suffers from degenerative arthritis and has had several surgeries over the years just to keep going, able to only perform a few songs at a time in pain. Adding insult to injury, Dee has recently found out the level of intensity he has dedicated to his life’s work has taken its toll on his heart as well. He can no longer push the boundaries of rock ‘n’ roll fury like he has done for decades.”
Said Snider, “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.” Sadly, Dee Snider now knows this.
On February 14th, Dee Snider addressed this situation on his House Of Hair radio show. An excerpt reads as follows:
“I’m not dying! 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 death bed. I am not. I just can’t do those things that I did in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s. Alright? Otherwise I’m alive and well. I’m enjoying life.”
“You won’t see me on the stage kicking ass like I used to, because that will mess me up. They said, ‘Hey man, can you just go out on stage and lay back?’ No! I can’t do that. That’s not who I am. So, I had to pull out of Twisted Sister, had to cancel the tour, my apologies for that. And thank you for all the love and care and worry and all that stuff. It was crazy 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.”
“You know what? The truth of the matter is, I don’t want you to see me up there being less than you expect me to be. You got memories of a great show that I did, that’s what I want to leave you with.”
