TWISTED SISTER Is Getting Reunion Offers Too Good To Refuse

Twisted Sister originally broke up in 2016, and so far has played one reunion show in 2023 at the Metal Hall of Fame at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills. Though according to Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, the offers are getting too good for another reunion.

In an interview with The Hook Rocks! podcast, Snider acknowledged Twisted Sister already did a farewell tour and that any band promising not to come back is pretty much full of it. Snider said there are no concrete plans for a reunion, but the offers are reaching a point where they’re almost undeniable.

“As a result of all the bands retiring and dying, the offers get bigger and bigger for the holdouts to come back. And we retired in 2016, I think it was. So we’re on eight years now of not playing, with no intention of coming back. But — my father, he says, ‘Everything before the word ‘but’ is bullshit — but at some point, you’ve gotta say, ‘Well, how can I say no to that?'”

He continued: “Is it there yet? No. Is it getting close? Yeah. Is there talk amongst us, like, ‘Well, in the event that the numbers do get there, and they sure as hell seem to be going in that direction, how are we gonna do this?’ So there’s a little bit of that conversation. And that’s both physically how we’re gonna do it and on a number of other levels.

“And that’s a recent occurrence, that the conversation has gone from ‘never’ to ‘in the event that they make as an offer we can’t refuse, what’s the plan?’ And there’s some very general discussion on that, involving personal trainers [laughs], diets, hair extensions. And that’s the first time in eight years that the conversation has changed.”

Snider later added that everyone in Twisted Sister is on good terms. So it’s not like they’re getting on stage purely for the paycheck.

“We’re all friends, by the way. The surviving guys, we all talk and we’re all friends and we love each other. And that was one of the great things that came out of getting back together the first time is that we managed to fix the friendships and be friends and that, to me, is really why I wanted to do it in the first place, getting back [together] last time… So, anyway, we’ll see what happens.”

Snider has been critical of bands that keep reuniting in the past, urging them to either stick around or at least have a concise goodbye.

“I didn’t lose the passion for the music,” said Snider during a 2023 Q&A session at the Rock City Music Company in Livonia, MI for his novel Frats. “I didn’t lose that at all. My last two albums, Leave A Scar and For The Love Of Metal, were stronger and sort of Dee resurging. I lost the willingness to get old on stage. I don’t want you guys to watch me age out.

“I read a review once that said — and it was actually a positive review about the Twisted reunion, which was ages ago now — but it said, ‘When a band reunites and they’re good, it makes you feel young again. But when they’re bad, it makes you realize how old you have gotten.’ And people were coming to see Twisted and coming to see me and people were smiling.

“But I know… Look, I’m not a bitcher and moaner, but I’ve had knee surgery, shoulder surgery, throat surgery, neck surgery… I can’t lift my arms up. It hurts when I throw the horns. Fuck! It’s not supposed to hurt… So I’d rather walk off with some dignity and leave you guys with a positive memory, saying, ‘We wanted more,’ than to overstay your welcome and say, ‘Gee, when is this guy gonna get off the fucking stage, man?’

“I see people singing ‘Crazy Nights’ and they’re not so crazy anymore. I’m not gonna name names. I always bitch about people who retire, sell us the ‘No More Tours’ shirt — Ozzy — and then come back a few years later, ‘We love you, we love you.’ That’s bullshit. And people say, ‘Well, that’s fucked up.’ No — stay forever, man. Stay forever. We don’t want you to leave. Just don’t do a three-year farewell tour — Scorpions — and then say you changed your mind. ‘Cause you haven’t played every place? No, you’ve played every place — twice.

“Blue Öyster Cult have ‘On Tour Forever’ jackets. Forever. God bless ’em. You do it, I’m not gonna be on tour forever. I’m gonna walk off into the sunset, waving and smiling.”