TWISTED SISTER's JAY JAY FRENCH On DEE SNIDER's 'Health Challenges': 'He's Not End-Of-Life Ill; He's Just End-Of-Career Ill'

In a new interview with longtime Detroit radio personality Screamin' Scott Randall of the 94.7 WCSX radio station, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French addressed Dee Snider's "health challenges" that forced the singer to back out of taking part in the band's 50th-anniversary reunion tour in 2026. Jay Jay said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You got health issues, well, nobody wants to put you in jeopardy. So when people say, 'Well, how do you feel about it?' Well, what am I supposed to say, how do I feel about it? The guy can't do it. If his doctors are telling him, 'Don't do it,' if his family's saying to him, 'Please don't do it, you're putting yourself, your health, at risk,' well, then you don't do it. It's that simple. So I understood. First, I said, 'Are you okay?' 'cause there was all these talks on how sick is he. He's not end-of-life ill; he's just end-of-career ill, like retired ball players or football players or whatever. He just couldn't perform the way he wants to perform, the way he believes that the fans want him to perform. So he respectfully resigned, and we said, 'Okay.' And that conversation was dormant, and then Eddie [Ojeda, TWISTED SISTER guitarist] and I had dinner and he said, 'Well, if we did, who would we get?' And we kind of knew the answer to that. We kind of knew it."

Regarding TWISTED SISTER's decision to recruit Sebastian Bach to step in for Snider as the band's lead singer for a number of shows this fall, French said: "It's amazing, when you think about it. Freddie Mercury was replaced [in QUEEN] by a guy from 'American Idol'. And Steve Perry was replaced [in JOURNEY] by a guy from YouTube. But we get a legitimate superstar. We didn't go to YouTube, and we didn't go to 'American Idol'. And I'm sure, by the way, that if we did, we'd find plenty of Dee Snider imitators out there. But Sebastian was just the perfect choice. And he's brought a whole new energy. And I'm having a blast on stage, man."

TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup consists of Bach on lead vocals, French and Ojeda on guitar, Russell Pzütto on bass, and Joey Cassata on drums.

TWISTED SISTER played its first concert with Bach on August 28 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. The show was originally announced as a performance by BENT BROTHER — TWISTED SISTER's alter ego — before it started being officially promoted as the debut live appearance of TWISTED SISTER's new touring lineup.

TWISTED SISTER will play an additional three shows this fall, including on November 12 at Hard Rock Live Bristol in Bristol, Virginia.

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".

TWISTED SISTER canceled a previously planned 50th-anniversary tour on February 5, citing Snider's resignation.

Snider said in a statement in February that he suffers from degenerative arthritis, and is only able to "perform a few songs at a time in pain." He also said that his intense rocking over the years has "taken its toll on his heart as well."

"I don't know of any other way to rock," Snider said. "The idea of slowing down is unacceptable to me. I'd rather walk away than be a shadow of my former self."

During a March 2026 appearance on "The Jasta Show", Snider said about his health: "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."

He continued: "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 drug guy. I'm not the drug 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 fuck down."

Elaborating on the physical limitations which caused him to decide to cancel his participation in TWISTED SISTER's reunion shows, Dee said:  "[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."

After Jasta pointed out that a lot of TWISTED SISTER fans would just be glad to see Dee perform the band's classic songs, even if he is unable to put on the same physical show that he is known for, Snider said: "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.'"

Three and a half 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.