TWISTED SISTER's JAY JAY FRENCH: 'I Never Had A Mentor'

In a previously unreleased clip from Daniel Sarkissian's film "What Is Classic Rock?", TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French was asked to offer some advice to up-and-coming artists. He responded: "When I was 20 years old and TWISTED began, I don't think I would have ever asked someone who was 60 where the music industry was going. Because I don't think I really gave a damn. I think that I would look around at my peers and see where… I call it observing your playing field and seeing where the scene is at, rather than go to, let's say, Elvis Presley's producers and go, 'Hey, man, give me some advice as to how I can move forward,' 'cause I don't think that they're seeing things the way I'm seeing things. When they were 20, they were seeing things in their way. So when I talk to 20-year-olds, I say to them, number one, I didn't have a mentor — I never had a mentor. And number two, I was smart and I just looked around me. I think it was impossible to think… Before THE BEATLES came, nobody thought THE BEATLES were gonna come; and before Elvis came, nobody thought Elvis was gonna come; and when disco came, nobody thought disco was gonna come; and when Michael Jackson exploded, nobody thought that that was gonna happen; and when rap happened, no one thought that would last for 40 years; and when metal blew up… Nobody knows. And it should never be predictable. When it becomes predictable, it becomes old."

This past summer, Jay Jay revealed that had his prostate removed after being diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier in the year.

TWISTED SISTER retired from the road two years ago after completing a farewell 40th-anniversary tour. The band's last-ever concert took place in November 2016 — 20 months after the passing of TWISTED's longtime drummer A.J. Pero.

TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider recently said that he had no regrets about putting the group to rest, explaining that he wanted to "step away gracefully" before it was too late.