DEE SNIDER Blasts Bands Who Tour Without Any Members From Classic Lineups, Reunite After 'Bulls***' Farewell Tours

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider has once again blasted bands who embark on "bullshit" farewell tours. In a video message posted on his Facebook page, Dee said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Farewell tours that never end or that end and then the artist comes out of retirement a couple of short years later and starts touring again are complete and utter dogshit. I'm not gonna name names. We all know who the scumbags are."

Dee then clarified: "Listen, you don't gotta stop playing. I'm not telling you to go away. Stay forever. We don't want you to leave. Just don't announce a farewell tour, sell us the whole bullshit farewell package, 'No More Tours' t-shirt, and a program and the ticket prices, sign it in blood, and then come back a couple years later to just milk us dry again. That's fucked up."

In a separate video message, Dee called out bands who continue to tour despite the fact that they contain no members from their original or classic lineups. He said: "Somebody asked me what my feelings were about bands that are out there playing under a big band's name with no original members, and I said, 'Hard no.' I think it's completely fucked up, it's deceptive, it's misrepresentative. They're not saying, 'We're not the original members,' but they're introducing everybody in the band. But that's the problem with something they call the corporate rock bands. They're popular for their songs, but not really for the band members."

He continued: "If you don't have any members from the classic lineup — with at least one you can say, 'Well…' Like [QUIET RIOT's] Rudy Sarzo. Rudy's been through it all. If he wants to go out there, I am certainly not gonna criticize him. But the day Rudy leaves, stay the fuck off the road and keep that band's name outta your mouth."

After Dee received some pushback from fans about his comments about bands touring with no original members, he returned to his social media to respond: "You have got to be fucking kidding me. I am getting feedback from people on my post about bands with zero original members in the band trying to justify their positions. 'They inherited the name?' That doesn't make you a bandmember. My kids are gonna inherit the name TWISTED SISTER, and if they put together a band to go out as TWISTED SISTER with nobody from the original band, I will come back from the dead and haunt their sorry asses.

Dee continued. "Roadies who are defending bands they work for with no original members in the lineup, shut the fuck up. You're a roadie. Get a job with another band.

"'Well, baseball teams don't have the original members.' It's not a baseball team," Snider added. "It's a fucking rock and roll band, baby, and you have to have people, original people from the classic lineup have to be in there. What the fuck is wrong with people?"

Back in July 2020, Snider was asked for his opinion on the then-"current trend" of bands who come out of retirement for a new tour, such as MÖTLEY CRÜE and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. "I think it's bullshit," he said. "When you say farewell... RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE breaks up — that's not retirement. They broke up, and they reformed, and that's great. But when you do a farewell tour, and you announce this, and you sell tickets, and you have a t-shirt that says 'No More Tours' — thank you very much, Ozzy [Osbourne], I bought one of those — and then you come back, that's bullshit. So when you say, 'We're retiring,' people now don't take it seriously. So, you know, it's like a joke, and I think that a part of it is that these artists have nothing else going on. And I realize that — without playing, they have no career."

This past February, Snider abruptly resigned from TWISTED SISTER and canceled the metal act's 2026 reunion shows because he is unable to perform live due to health reasons. The run was set to mark TWISTED SISTER's first tour since 2016 — when the band embarked on what was billed to be their "Forty And Fuck It" farewell tour — and feature the band's three core members: Snider, founding guitarist (and longest-serving member) Jay Jay French and longtime lead guitarist Eddie Ojeda.

On August 28, TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup played its first concert, consisting of French, Ojeda, ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach, Russell Pzütto on bass, and Joey Cassata on drums.

TWISTED SISTER will play an additional eleven shows this fall with the above-mentioned lineup.

Pzütto, who had previously toured with Snider's solo projects, has replaced bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza on bass. Joe Franco, who briefly played with the group in the mid-1980s, was supposed to sit behind the drum kit, stepping in for A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 55. However, Franco is not available to play the fall 2026 shows and is being replaced by Cassata, who played drums on Ace Frehley's final original solo album, "10,000 Volts".