Twisted Sister recently canceled their 50th anniversary reunion shows after Dee Snider resigned from playing full gigs due to health concerns. Now guitarist Jay Jay French has offered a bit more context on the decision.
In a new video message posted on Saturday, February 7th — exactly 50 years from Snider’s first audition for the group — French explained that the band had “no other choice” but to accept the iconic singer’s resignation, and the guitarist had nothing but praise for his longtime bandmate.
“Today is the actual 50th anniversary of the day that Dee auditioned in the band,” French said. “1976. Here’s the diary entry. ‘Danny Snider’ — he wasn’t Dee yet — ‘auditions for Twisted Sister’, February 7th, 1976.”
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French continued (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “For the last 50 years, me and [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.”
Regarding the future of the band, French said that he and Ojeda 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 [Twisted Sister fans] around the world are the thing that kept us alive and kept us going,” French said, “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.”
Snider announced his resignation last Thursday in a pair of statements, including one in his own words:
“I don’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.”
Watch Jay Jay French’s video message below.