In a brand new interview with Joe Rock of Lengthy Island’s rock station 102.3 WBAB, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French was requested if there’s any probability of the reunited band releasing at the very least one new track to coincide with the group’s upcoming reveals in 2026. The final new monitor French and the remainder of TWISTED SISTER recorded was “30”, which TWISTED SISTER laid down for the Twenty fifth-anniversary reissue of the “Keep Hungry” album in 2009. Jay Jay stated (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):
“We performed [’30’ live]. I really like the monitor. We made a video. It is a terrific track. And Dee [Snider, TWISTED SISTER singer] predicted that no person would care. We performed it a number of occasions on the tour following the discharge, and Dee stated, ‘That is the lavatory track developing, all people.’ Folks have been trying round going, ‘What’s that loo track?’ You realize the purpose within the present the place somebody says, ‘It is a new monitor,’ and also you all rise up and go to the lavatory? He goes, ‘Now we have a rest room track that is developing. I will provide you with loads of warning.’ And so he made such a degree of claiming it that no person would rise up and go to the lavatory, ‘trigger now they have been utterly humiliated. So he’d say, ‘Arising in two songs is the lavatory track.’ And we’d play it, [and] everybody was there, all people clapped.”
French continued: “However I suppose this is the necessary level. In case you’re gonna play 15 songs or 16 songs, regardless of the quantity songs are, and also you laid them out on a grid and also you stated to a fan, an actual fan, ‘Okay, we’re gonna play this, this, this, however we’re gonna put this new monitor in and we’re gonna take this monitor out.’ How do you suppose the vote would go? You realize the reply to that query could be 95-5 towards or possibly 99-1 towards. And that is the reality. That’s merely the reality. I do not care the way you wanna reduce it, however while you’re a traditional band like us who’s had a ton of product on the market and we have now 5 albums and all people is aware of who they’re, and with [returning TWISTED SISTER drummer] Joe Franco on drums, we’re gonna play songs from the album that he performed drums on, ‘trigger he was a bonafide member of the band, it turns into a scenario the place if we did, what are we taking out to place that in? And that turns into a Dee situation. I belief his vibe as a frontman to manage the viewers, ‘trigger he is nice at it, have management of the ebb and circulation of the night time. Now, having stated that, he wrote a track and he offered it to us and we’re contemplating recording it. We’re contemplating it, and if we do, then we could play it. However we’ve not completed it but. It might occur. Nevertheless, like I stated, in case you requested 100 followers what they wanna hear, you’ll get a response of just about zero on a track they did not know.”
TWISTED SISTER just lately introduced a number of reveals as a part of its Fiftieth-anniversary reunion in 2026, together with appearances at Spain’s Rock Fest, Denmark’s Copenhell and Norway’s Tons Of Rock festivals.
TWISTED SISTER‘s 2026 reveals will function the band’s three core members: Snider, French and longtime lead guitarist Eddie Ojeda. Bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza will not be becoming a member of the celebration. Russell Pzütto, who has toured with Snider‘s solo initiatives, will exchange Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly performed with the group within the mid-Eighties, will sit behind the drum equipment, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who handed away in 2015 on the age of 55.
In a current interview with John “JP” Parise of Lengthy Island, New York’s 102.3 WBAB and Tampa, Florida’s 102.5 The Bone radio stations, Snider acknowledged about why he modified his thoughts about returning to the street, 9 years after the completion of TWISTED SISTER‘s “40 And Fuck It!” farewell tour, and after he repeatedly slammed KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE farewell excursions and subsequent reunions as mere money grabs: “To begin with, I personal [my previous] statements [about not wanting to stage a TWISTED SISTER reunion]. I stated that and extra. I singled out bands. I named names. I ranted and raved about this, and I anticipated to get excrements for this, however I am getting hit exhausting.
“I am not gonna lie, and I can solely let you know a lot, however that is the full fact,” he continued. “I turned 70 this yr and I had a well being scare. And I am okay… And it shook me up… I will not say [exactly what it was], and I am okay. However it actually made me re-evaluate numerous issues. [When I was] 40, 50, 60, I believed I used to be superhuman. TWISTED SISTER retired 10 years in the past after I was ripped to shreds. After which [at] 70, one thing occurred and it was a re-evaluation, fairly truthfully. And a part of that re-evaluation was trying and saying… Am I able to go? Properly, you by no means know while you’re gonna go quietly to the night time. You by no means know when your time is up. And do I actually wanna do this with out rocking another time. And I finished doing solo stuff a couple of years again as effectively. I imply, I am going out and I be a part of [POISON frontman] Bret Michaels or Lita Ford on stage [during their shows] for a pair songs, however I do not exit and carry out. And upon speaking to my spouse and re-evaluating, it was I, me, who referred to as the [other] guys [in TWISTED SISTER]. I referred to as them. They by no means referred to as. I imply, we discuss, however they by no means introduced it up as a result of I used to be, like, ‘This isn’t taking place, guys. It’s completed. It’s over, similar to I instructed all people.’ However, like I stated, I had a life-changing expertise and re-evaluation of numerous issues, and I reached out. I stated, ‘Guys, what do you concentrate on doing it another time?'”
In accordance with Dee, Jay Jay and Eddie did not instantly leap on the alternative to return to taking part in stay reveals with TWISTED SISTER. “It was a dialog,” Snider defined. “At this level, will we wanna take this, for lack of a greater phrase, victory lap, so to talk? However it was a dialog. After which all people goes, ‘Properly, how will you not, with Alice [Cooper] on the market [at the age of 77]?’ Alice instructed me… I stated, ‘Dude, when are you gonna retire?’ He says, ‘I am trying ahead to singing after I’m 80.’ So he is bought no plans. [Mick] Jagger‘s on the market [playing shows at age 82]. Paul McCartney‘s doing three hours [at age 83]. Now I do know he does not run round like I do, however the identical time, you go, effectively, there’s precedents. Individuals are on the market into — there are octogenarians on the market [touring] now. So we determined to go for it and exit on a excessive notice.”
After JP criticized a number of the media’s protection of TWISTED SISTER‘s return, notably because it pertains to experiences of the band “touring” once more, Dee stated: “It does not say that within the press launch. I checked. I am seeing, ‘Tour.’ ‘They’re hitting the street once more.’ Wait a minute — who’s hitting the street? We’re flying firstclass on an air jet airplane. Personal aircraft.
“I am sorry, people. Individuals are saying, ‘Come to this city, come to that city.’ No, man,” he clarified. “It is a handful of dates — I am considering it is about 20, 25 reveals around the globe, festivals virtually completely. And it isn’t a full-blown tour or something like that. It is a celebration for us, and I hope you are celebrating with us for the truth that 50 years in the past, subsequent yr, we bought collectively — me, Eddie and Jay Jay — and we, towards all odds, we had success.”
Requested by JP “how huge the dump truck full of cash” was “that confirmed up in [Dee‘s] driveway” that satisfied the singer to reunite TWISTED SISTER for the band’s Fiftieth anniversary, Snider stated: “I am gonna be sincere. The numbers are getting greater and better and better, but it surely wasn’t actually the place I — I had this place in thoughts, and it wasn’t there. However like I stated, truthfully, it wasn’t in regards to the cash. Yeah, if there was no cash, I am not gonna do it. I am not gonna lie about that. However it actually was this type of trying within the mirror going, ‘Hey, man, that was scary. And I do not wanna exit like that.’ I don’t wanna exit quietly. Kicking and screaming, man — that is the way in which I wanna go.”
Dee additionally talked in regards to the challenges of getting ready for TWISTED SISTER stay performances, notably because it pertains to the bodily calls for of stepping on a stage for an hour and a half. He stated: “I all the time had a combined relationship with the live shows. I did a lot prep and I bought so into it, it was so intense, I made myself depressing. After I go on the market, it is the best second in my life for 90 minutes, and I get off the stage and I really feel actually good for about quarter-hour, half hour, after which I begin [to think], ‘Oh no. I’ve gotta do that once more tomorrow.’ And I begin getting manic. And [my wife] Suzette would by no means come out the street with me. She stated, ‘You are depressing. You sit within the room, you obsess.’ I sit there, and I am not a kind of folks, however I sit there writing an inventory of the precise time I’ve gotta eat my protein and what time I’ve gotta do my neck stretches and a scorching bathtub and vocalizing. I write it down on a sheet, and I examine it off. I am, like, manic. And in order that’s one more reason why going again to it, there’s numerous discomfort in the entire — and being away from the household and being away from my spouse, ‘trigger she does not wanna be wherever close to me, which I perceive. So, this manner of doing it, going out and doing a present on a weekend and going out, there’ll nonetheless be that day of preparing for the present as a result of it is type of my methodology. However at the very least after the present, Suzette shall be on the market and we’ll go and we’ll take pleasure in wherever we’re for a couple of days and loosen up till the subsequent one comes. So it will be someday of depth versus simply an countless day after day after day of obsessing and making myself loopy.”
Throughout a September 10 look on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Dee acknowledged about Mark‘s absence from the TWISTED SISTER 2026 tour: “I can solely merely say irreconcilable variations and go away it at that. I am unable to get into the weeds and I am unable to go down that path. And I will not. However irreconcilable variations. Folks change, and nonetheless it’s, and I am not saying he modified; possibly we modified no matter it’s. So in deciding who to make use of on bass, my bass participant on the final two Dee Snider albums, ‘For The Love Of Steel’ and ‘Go away A Scar’, was Russ Pzütto. And he was Mark Mendoza‘s bass tech, and a terrific bass participant… So, he did a tremendous job on these two albums. He was a terrific man to tour with. The band all knew him from years of working with TWISTED, and once more, he appeared like a possible alternative. As a matter of truth, one time he was Mark‘s option to fill in for him. And one gig, it was in Belgium at Graspop, and Mark could not make it, and Russ stepped in and performed with TWISTED. So he truly has carried out with TWISTED as soon as earlier than.”
Requested if he thinks the door is open for Mark to play with TWISTED SISTER once more sooner or later throughout the reunion tour, Dee stated: “I am unable to think about it proper now. I am unable to think about it proper now. I imply — I plead the fifth. I am unable to transcend that. However issues have occurred that I do not see being reconciled, therefore the time period ‘irreconcilable variations.'”
French beforehand addressed Mendoza‘s departure in a press release to Rolling Stone, explaining: “Me, Dee and Eddie have carried out as TWISTED SISTER for practically 50 years with 10 completely different bass gamers and drummers. The band has by no means mentioned inner realignment earlier than and has no intention of doing it now. Suffice to say that the majority bands with a 50-year historical past have gone by way of realignment as a byproduct of time. We want Mark effectively in his future endeavors.”
Franco performed on TWISTED SISTER‘s 1987 album “Love Is For Suckers”. Mike Portnoy, who took over for Pero after he died close to the top of TWISTED SISTER‘s 2016 run, is busy touring with DREAM THEATER and is unable to take part within the upcoming TWISTED SISTER stay actions.
Two and a half years in the past, TWISTED SISTER staged a one-off reunion on the Steel Corridor Of Fame in Agoura Hills, California. Readily available to be inducted into the Steel Corridor Of Fame have been Snider, French, Mendoza and Portnoy. Ojeda was absent from the occasion after contracting COVID-19; filling in for him was Keith Robert Battle. TWISTED SISTER performed a extremely charged three-song set consisting of the staples “You Cannot Cease Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Beneath The Blade”, in addition to the anthem “We’re Not Gonna To Take It”.
TWISTED SISTER‘s unique run ended within the late ’80s. After greater than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to prime the invoice of New York Metal, a hard-rock profit live performance to boost cash for the New York Police And Fireplace Widows’ And Youngsters’s Profit Fund.
