Legendary vocalist Dee Snider has offered a candid look into the severe medical conditions that ultimately prevented him from joining Twisted Sister on their upcoming 50th-anniversary run in 2026.
Sitting down for an extensive interview on “The Jasta Show” with host and Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, the iconic singer revealed the alarming reality of his current physical state and the family intervention that forced him to step away from the stage.
“I’m not dying anytime soon. But I am dealing with issues that if I don’t deal with them, I could kill myself. And my dad is 95 years old, and my mom, before she got hit by the car, God bless her, she was as healthy as a horse at 85… I’ve got longevity, but I can’t do the things I do and expect to enjoy that longevity, the things the way I did them,” Dee explained.
Expanding on the specific toll his high-energy career has taken on his body, the frontman detailed a cascade of escalating health problems, including an overreliance on pain medication that began affecting his internal organs.
“My body’s been causing me problems with growing arthritis and degenerative arthritis through my shoulders, my neck, my arms. It’s worked down my legs. It’s throughout my body. It hurts all the time. And I was taking so many painkillers, and I’m not the dr*g guy. I’m not the dr*g guy, but when you’re in pain, you’re just looking for relief. But it was screwing up my other organs, because you can’t take even Advil. You start downing them by the handful, and before you know it, that’s what you’re doing all day long. You start hurting the liver, the kidneys or other organs in your body. And that started to become an issue for me. It was really when they discovered that I have hypertension and some heart issues that I have to address, and by addressing it means I gotta calm the f**k down.”
To illustrate his internal struggle and the harsh reality of aging in heavy metal, the singer drew a direct comparison to another retired heavy music icon who faced similar physical limitations. He also shared the emotional breaking point involving his children.
”[Slayer bassist/vocalist] Tom Araya was a thrasher in his heart of hearts to the bitter end, but his neck gave out, as they do, and he could no longer [thrash around like he used to], as you know, in the years with Slayer. And it hurt him. I read it. He said, ‘The fact that I can’t throw down’ — I’m paraphrasing — ‘with the audience. I can’t bang and thrash, whip my head around like I used to do,’ he said, ‘it makes me sad that I can’t do that.’ … And I’m not trashing Tom — please don’t take it as that — I’m applauding him and I’m commiserating with him and that feeling. I just don’t know if I could stop myself. … That’s the thing — I don’t think I can… But the point is I don’t know if I could do it. I don’t know if I could stop myself. I don’t know if I would want to… My kids sat me down and said, ‘Please stop’ — some were crying — ‘because you are gonna kill yourself,’ ’cause they know who I am.”
When the podcast host suggested that audiences would be thrilled just to hear his voice regardless of his physical mobility, the veteran musician revealed the extreme lengths his bandmates went to in order to keep him on the roster. Ultimately, it was his manager, Phil Carson, who stepped in to shut down the dangerous compromises.
“When I told the band I’m leaving the band and I’m not doing the reunion shows, there was a lot of trying to — I’ll put it in the nicest way possible — accommodate me and make it workable. ‘We’ll have medical technicians. We’ll wheel you on and off stage. I’m gonna get the same crew that handled [Mötley Crüe guitarist] Mick Mars [who is suffering with degenerative bone condition ankylosing spondylitis], wheel him out on stage, go do the show.’ They were offering me everything. And I wasn’t asking for all this stuff. And [my manager] Phil [Carson], said, ‘Dee, you cannot do this. I know you. I’ve stood on stage and watched you for decades. You cannot do this. You’ll hurt yourself.’ And he called the guys up and said, ‘He’s out. He cannot do this. So stop offering him everything in the world.’ And I love the guys, because it wasn’t like a lack of caring or whatever. Now once you get in the head that we’re gonna do it, it got to be kind of this thing, like, this victory lap, and we weren’t even thinking about it and then all of a sudden it became a thing and it was exciting. But people who truly love me — I’m not saying the guys [in the band] don’t love me — told me, ‘Please don’t do this, because we know you and you can’t stop.'”
Following his official resignation, the upcoming fall 2026 Twisted Sister dates will be fronted by Sebastian Bach. The newly assembled live lineup features classic guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda. The rhythm section also includes notable shifts, with Russell Pzütto taking over bass duties from Mark “The Animal” Mendoza. Behind the kit, Joey Cassata—recognized for his drum work on Ace Frehley‘s solo album 10,000 Volts—will step in for Joe Franco. Joe Franco was initially slated to honor the late A.J. Pero, but recent scheduling conflicts ruled out his participation.
