Dee Snider says he faces eight weeks in a sling and shoulder replacement surgery after breaking his shoulder.
Dee Snider has given a fuller account of the shoulder he broke on a basketball court, confirming that the replacement surgery he flagged a fortnight ago is going ahead. The Twisted Sister singer, who is 71, posted a video message rather than writing it out, because typing has become difficult with his right arm immobilised.
Snider opened with a warning to other parents before getting to what happened.
“Hey, it’s me, Dee Snider. I wanna bring you up to speed on some of the things that are going on here with me, in particular my broken shoulder,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
He continued: “So, a bit of words to the wise. Fathers, mothers with kids, when they’re young and we play with them, we tend to dominate them. It’s a fun thing. We tower over them, we let them win, but they know we’re letting them win because we’re so much bigger, and they feel so quietly intimidated. They’re laughing, they’re having fun with us, but the fact is we are these larger-than-life individuals. There will come a time they are our size or bigger than we are. They will dominate us. This will be their revenge. Whether it’s conscious or subconscious, they’re out to get even with us and watch us laying on the floor writhing in pain. And they say, ‘That’s what you get for being a son of a b**ch when I was a little kid.’ Not saying my kids did that to me, but we were playing basketball on the basketball court, and I got checked, I got knocked over, and I went down like a ton of bricks. Slammed my whole right side. I could’ve sworn out of the corner of my eye I saw one of my sons doing a victory dance. Broke my shoulder, broke the bone in my shoulder.”
He set out the practical side, which is complicated by the break being on his dominant side.
“You may have seen my tweet,” he said. “It was posted on Facebook as well. The toughest thing about the break besides the discomfort, pain, the annoyance of wearing the sling, sleeping’s a b**ch if it’s the hand you favor. I’m a righty, broke my right shoulder. That switchover is a b**ch on every level — the good, the bad and the ugly, let your imagination run wild.”
He continued: “I’m gonna be in a sling pretty much for the next eight weeks. And then there’s the physical therapy and all that stuff like that. And then after that, I gotta go in for a surgery. They’re gonna do a replacement. That’s a b**ch, and that’s one of the reasons I’m doing this, is because typing on social media has become really tough. So, I decided to do some audio stuff as well.”
He signed off in typical fashion: “That’s all I got on this one for you. Don’t cry for me, Argentina. Other than that, I’m doing great, all things considered, and it’s just a real pain in the a**, a.k.a. shoulder.
That confirms a course of treatment he had only described as a possibility when he first mentioned the injury on 15 August, calling it a new cruelty and saying he was looking at a replacement.
The break lands on top of a year that had already ended Snider‘s performing career.
In February, Twisted Sister announced that its long-awaited 50th-anniversary reunion would not go ahead as originally planned. The band canceled its previously announced 2026 performances after Snider experienced a number of health challenges. Twisted Sister later revealed that Sebastian Bach would take over vocal duties for the band’s upcoming appearances.
Snider discussed his decision to stop performing during a March appearance on the Beardo & Weirdo podcast, hosted by Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch and comedian Craig Gass.
One of the major factors was the physical damage caused by decades of performing at an intensely energetic level. Snider recalled a conversation with his surgeon after being confronted with the condition of his body.
He said at the time: “First of all, becoming face-to-face with mortality. And as the doctor said to me, ‘Dude, you’re great, amazing for a 71-year-old. But you can’t do that anymore. You’re done. Your body parts are worn out, and you got nothing left.’ And the funniest thing [was] when the surgeon looked at my X-ray, [he said], ‘Do you jump around much?’ ‘Yeah. That’s kind of what I do.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, well, you’re done,’” he said.
Seeking a hip replacement to prolong his career, the singer was dealt another blow when doctors discovered dangerous hypertension and hidden heart issues. Ultimately, his family stepped in to put his health first.
“And my family literally had to sit down with me and pretty much begged me to stop. And basically, my kids, they’re, like, ‘Why are you doing this? What do you got to prove? It’s not a financial thing for you. You’ve got everything that you ever dreamed of, everything you wanted. It’s pure ego.’”
Snider humorously pointed the finger at Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson for giving him temporary false hope about his physical capabilities.
“Also — I blame Bruce Dickinson. I’m blaming Bruce Dickinson because when I found out that my hip was shot, I get a call from Bruce. I hadn’t spoken to him since the Powerslave tour. And he reaches out to say, ‘Dee,’ he said, ‘I’ve had it done twice.’ He goes, ‘And I’m back in action.’ And I said, ‘You’re back in action?’ Now mind you, I think Bruce is 10 years younger than me. I said, ‘You’re back in action?’ He says, ‘Yeah, man. I’m thrusting, I’m parrying.’ I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about the band?’ ‘Oh, yeah, the band too. But I’m fencing, man.’ All he cared about was that he was still thrusting and parrying. But when I heard him say, ‘Okay, back in action a hundred percent,’ I was, like, ‘All right, I could do this.’”
Encouraged by the conversation, Snider had his hip repaired and attempted a test run on stage with Lita Ford, similar to past guest spots he had done with Bret Michaels. The result was a disaster.
“And that’s when I was going for the surgery that I found out that I had a heart issue that I did not know about. And that was when they pulled the rug out from under me. And then I still — like an a**hole — so I got the hip. It was better. I’m, like, ‘You know what? I’m going out there. I wanna test it out.’ Lita Ford had asked me to do a few songs with her, like I used to do with Bret [Michaels] and stuff.”
Snider continued: “So I go up there on stage and I walk out on stage and I’m going, ‘Damn, this thing feels good.’ I’m thrusting and I’m parrying — bounce, bounce, bounce, and the knee goes. Three bounces — knee goes. And I’m, like, ‘Whoa. Son of a bi**h.’ And I’m just hearing that surgeon going, ‘You’re done. You’re done. You’re done.’”
After having his knee surgically repaired, Snider chose to prioritize his current quality of life, which includes living at his North Carolina family compound, directing a movie, and hosting his syndicated radio show, ‘House Of Hair‘. He also noted a strong desire to preserve the legacy of Twisted Sister’s original 2016 farewell.
“So I got the knee fixed, and I was, like, all right, am I gonna keep playing this game? I go out there and then I break something else and I tear something else, or I injure something else, or I enjoy my life. Day to day, I’m living my best life, without a doubt. I built a family compound in North Carolina. I’ve got all my kids, my wife, my grandkids, everybody here. I’m living a good life. I’m directing my first movie in a couple of months. I’m writing. I’m doing other things. I’m still doing my radio show. 29 years I’ve been doing my syndicated radio show, ‘House Of Hair‘. So it’s not that I’m lacking any outlet or creativity or tension. But for my ego, do I really need to get up there on stage and I could prove that I could do it one more time?”
He concluded: “When Twisted Sister retired in 2016 — that was 10 years ago — I had a 29-inch waist, I weighed 175 pounds. I had an eight-pack. I’m ripped to shreds. At 61 years old I am ripped to shreds and I am performing at my peak. And it was a friend of mine [who] said, ‘You really wanna go back 10 years later? You know you can’t take your shirt off. You know you ain’t got no 29-inch waist. That ship sailed a few inches ago.’ And he goes, ‘You can’t possibly compare to that. You went out on a high note. You were 61. You said, ‘Goodbye, everybody.’ And now you’re gonna come back 10 years later and suck?’ And I may not suck, but that was besides the health issues. Even if I go out there, I’m 10 years older. I’m 10 years more worn out.”
The band’s 2026 dates go ahead with Sebastian Bach singing alongside founding guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda. Russell Pzütto, who has toured with Snider‘s solo projects, takes over on bass from Mark “The Animal” Mendoza.
The drum seat has changed hands again. Joe Franco, who played briefly with the band in the mid-1980s, had been announced in place of A.J. Pero, who died in 2015 at 55. Franco is not available for the autumn shows and will be replaced by Joey Cassata, who drummed on Ace Frehley‘s final studio album 10,000 Volts.
Twisted Sister retired from touring in 2016 and have played once since, a one-off reunion three and a half years ago.
