Snider defends his anger over Pero death

Dee Snider has defended his comments that late Twisted Sister drummer AJ Pero was “irresponsible” for not getting his heart checked out.

The singer said in April – a month after the drummer passed away from a heart attack while on tour with Adrenaline Mob – that he was “angry” with Pero for not taking his family’s history of heart problems seriously.

After a backlash from fans, Snider has talked about the furore on an episode of his Snider Comments podcast.

He says (via Blabbermouth): “The fact of the matter is, it was the truth. And there was quite a bit of a reaction on social media, like, ‘Dee Snider bashes his drummer.’ The word ‘bash’ and ‘attack.’ And the first thing I said was, ‘I love the guy.’ And why would anybody be upset with someone doing what AJ did unless they cared about them deeply and loved them deeply?

“People die every day, and I don’t go as far as to speak out about the way they chose to go. You know, I spoke out about AJ because I’m hurt, and his family is hurt, and world he left behind is in complete turmoil as a result of it.”

He continues: “So here I had an opportunity to remind people that, hey, heart disease is just that — it’s a disease. Don’t put your head in the sand and don’t pretend that there’s no problem when you know your whole family has a history of any sickness — of cancer, of heart disease, of prostate problems. I mean, everybody should get checked out, but especially if you’re genetically predisposed.”

Pero’s own father died from heart-related illness in his 50s.

Twisted Sister have a number of live dates lined up for this year, with Mike Portnoy filling in on drums. They will go on a farewell tour next year.

TWISTED SISTER TOUR DATES 2015

Jun 27: Topfest, Slovakia

Jun 28: Kavarna Soccer Stadium, Bulgaria

Jul 02: Toreboda Festival, Sweden

Jul 24: Barcelona Rock Fest, Spain

Sep 12: Hinckley Grand RockTember Festival, MN

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.