Snider: AJ didn’t have to die

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider says bandmate AJ Pero didn’t have to die – and admits he’s angry at the late drummer.

Pero suffered a fatal heart attack last month, and the band have since announced that they’ll wind up their touring career in 2016, with Mike Portnoy behind the kit.

Snider tells TMZ: “I’m going through a period of real anger about it. He was a great guy and I loved him dearly – but he had a history of heart disease.

“His family did. His father died in his early 60s of heart disease, and AJ never had himself checked out. When they did the autopsy he had 95 percent blockage. Advanced heart disease.

“He didn’t have to die, and I feel it’s basically irresponsible behaviour on his part.”

Snider underlines that Pero left two ex-wives, a girlfriend and four children, adding: “You have a responsibility as a parent, as an adult, to get yourself checked out. There’s no reason for people to die of heart disease in this day and age.”

In a separate statement the singer says: “AJ did not have a will and left behind a real mess of an estate to be sorted out. Now there’s in-fighting, mistrust and dissension among the family about how to handle life after AJ.

“This unfortunate situation should be a life lesson to take responsibility for the world we create, and will leave behind when we’re gone.”

Twisted Sister play two memorial shows in the coming months, with proceeds from the second to be given to Pero’s family to “help them out in the short term.”

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.