Dee Snider: My goal is to be like Ozzy

Dee Snider has told Classic Rock magazine that the chances of Twisted Sister ever getting back together are “very, very slim," and rather than look back, he'd like his solo career to emulate that of Ozzy Osbourne.

Twisted Sister brought the curtain down on their career with a set at the Corona Northside Rock Park Meeting Fest in Monterrey, Mexico, in November 2016, with Mike Portnoy on drums in place of the late AJ Pero, who died while on tour with Adrenaline Mob in early 2015.

Asked if the decision to disband Twisted Sister was a unanimous one, Snider replies: “It was a group situation. There were people in the band who would prefer to have kept going, but I wasn’t the only one to feel we’d taken it as far as we could, especially without AJ. We didn’t want to just keep on going till all the parts fall off.”

Since Twisted Sister called it a day, Snider has gone on to release For The Love Of Metal and he backed that last month with the launch of For The Love Of Metal Live.

But quizzed on whether Twisted Sister were definitely done for good, Snider says: “Look, the odds of seeing Twisted again are very, very slim. I still talk to the guys and we’re all friends, but I really don’t see it happening, especially as I’ve found a sound for me.

“It took so long and so many misfires to get here, I want to spend the remainder of my time doing that. My goal is to be like Ozzy. Not on a personal level, but on a musical one, where he started out in Black Sabbath, and as a solo artist, played new music and just did Paranoid at the end of the show. That’s my dream.”

The full interview with Snider is in the brand new issue of Classic Rock magazine, which is on sale now.

Phil Lynott is the cover star of issue 279, with the magazine looking back at 50 years of Thin Lizzy through the eyes of Scott Gorham and Brian Downey.

The mag also features Peter Green, Blues Pills, Fantastic Negrito, Kiss, James Dean Bradfield, an Icons Of Rock’N’Roll book, a look back at Monsters Of Rock and much more.

Classic Rock 279 — (Image credit: Future)

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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.