JAY JAY FRENCH: TWISTED SISTER 'Had No Other Choice But To Cancel' 50th-Anniversary Shows

TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French says that legendary rock band had "no other choice but to cancel" its planned 50th-anniversary concerts.

On February 5, TWISTED SISTER announced it had scrapped its 2026 reunion shows after Snider resigned, citing health issues.

The band posted on social media that Dee's "sudden and unexpected resignation" forced the group to cancel all dates starting in April through the beginning of the summer.

On February 7, Jay Jay shared a video message on social media commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dee joining TWISTED SISTER. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Today is the actual 50th anniversary of the day that Dee auditioned in the band. 1976. Here's the diary entry. 'Danny Snider' — he wasn't Dee yet — 'auditions for TWISTED SISTER', February 7th, 1976.

"For the last 50 years, me and [TWISTED SISTER guitarist] Eddie [Ojeda] have stood side by side with Dee, not with hundreds of shows, but with thousands of shows.

"You know the cliché in sports, when a great sportsman retires, they say he left it on the field," Jay Jay continued. "Well, I can tell you when it comes to Dee, he left it on the stage. He gave everything his all, and his body is now telling him, 'I can't give you anymore.' And when someone tells you that, you have to accept it and you have to move on. So please understand this was a tough decision, but we had no other choice but to cancel these dates.

"As far as the future of TWISTED SISTER is concerned, Eddie Ojeda and I will have conversations in the next couple of weeks to discuss what, if any, options exist for us to continue.

"Until then, just know that the SMFs [an abbreviation for 'Sick Mother Fucker', which is what TWISTED SISTER fans are affectionately called] around the world are the thing that kept us alive and kept us going, and we love you guys and we will do everything we can to always live up to your expectations as fans, 'cause nobody understands fandom more than us. We appreciate everything that you've ever done for us and hopefully we'll see you again in the future. Thank you."

In a separate announcement on February 5, the 70-year-old Snider revealed that he had been diagnosed with degenerative arthritis and had undergone several surgeries for the condition "just to keep going, able to only perform a few songs at a time in pain."

"A lifetime of legendarily aggressive performing has taken its toll on Dee Snider's body and soul," the statement read. "Adding insult to injury, Dee has recently found out the level of intensity he has dedicated to his life's work has taken its toll on his heart as well. He can no longer push the boundaries of rock 'n' roll fury like he has done for decades."

Snider added that he doesn't "know of any other way to rock.

"The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I'd rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self," he said.

"In the immortal words of Dirty Harry, 'A man's got to know his limitations.' Sadly, Dee Snider now knows his," the statement concluded.

TWISTED SISTER's 2026 shows were supposed to feature the band's three core members: Snider, French and Ojeda. Bassist Mark "The Animal" Mendoza was not going to be joining the celebration. Russell Pzütto, who has toured with Snider's solo projects, was slated to replace 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.

In a November 2025 interview with "Steve And Rik's POTcast", the podcast hosted by Steve Whiteman of KIX and his friend Rik Parks, Dee spoke about why he changed his mind about returning to the road, nine years after the completion of TWISTED SISTER's "40 And Fuck It!" farewell tour, and after he repeatedly slammed KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE farewell tours and subsequent reunions as mere cash grabs. Dee said: "Why am I doing a reunion with TWISTED SISTER? [Sighs] I'll say that it was my idea. The [other] guys [in the band] couldn't even believe I was making the call. And it had to do with — I said this publicly already — I had a little bit of a health scare. It was okay, and it was okay, but it was enough to make me say, 'Wow, that was weird.' I never had to think about those things before. And I'm 70 years old, and I'm, like, 'Do I wanna go out like that, go silently, or do I wanna go kicking and screaming?' And I picked up the phone and I called up John and Eddie, Jay Jay and Eddie, and said, 'What do you think about getting together?' And they couldn't believe I was suggesting it, 'cause I told 'em,'[It's] not happening. [It will] never happen.' But circumstances, particularly [since] this was emotional circumstances, made me change my mind. Am I regretting it? A little bit right now, sorry to say. [Laughs]"

When Whiteman noted that Snider was "brave" to stage a TWISTED SISTER reunion after not performing a full set with the band in nearly a decade, Dee said: "I'm [either] brave or stupid. Up till TWISTED's retirement, and we did that in 2016 — I mean, first of all, I was 175 pounds, and I was shredded. I had a 29-inch waist. I was 62 years old, and people were going, 'What the actual fuck is going on there?' And I'd take my shirt off at every show and people would go, 'Damn, look at that guy.' I saw wives hitting their husbands, going, 'Why don't you look like that?' But what I really loved is the smiles, man. When you hit start singing and you are on and you're still delivering, the audience would just light up. And I'd see fathers doing like this to their sons, going, 'That's Dee fucking Snider.' They were being transported back to their youth through the performance. And it was the way they remembered it and I looked the way they remembered. And I loved that. And I walked away and said, 'Okay, I don't wanna ever see a look of dissatisfaction.'"

He continued: "Somebody was reviewing our show and said, 'When a reunion is good, it makes you feel young again. When it's bad, it makes you realize how old you've gotten.' And I wanna be the first part. And the review was, like, 'TWISTED SISTER made me feel I was 19.' But I never wanna be that guy where people go, 'Yeah, time's passed,' and make people feel old, just looking at me on stage."

Three years ago, TWISTED SISTER staged a one-off reunion at the Metal Hall Of Fame in Agoura Hills, California. On hand to be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame were Snider, French, Mendoza and drummer Mike Portnoy. Ojeda was absent from the event after contracting COVID-19; filling in for him was Keith Robert War. TWISTED SISTER played a highly charged three-song set consisting of the staples "You Can't Stop Rock 'N' Roll" and "Under The Blade", as well as the anthem "We're Not Gonna To Take It".

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.