Twisted Sister to quit touring after 2016
A.J. Pero, left, with his Twisted Sister band mates.
Twisted Sister really aren’t gonna take it any more after next year.
The Long Island Music Hall of Famers announced Wednesday that their “Forty and [Expletive] It” Tour next year, celebrating their 40th anniversary, will be their final tour.
“It was with heavy hearts that Twisted Sister said goodbye to their drummer A.J. Pero, who passed away on March 20,” the band wrote on its website. “Twisted Sister has made it official that 2016 will formally close the touring chapter of their illustrious and legendary career.”
Twisted Sister – singer Dee Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, and bassist Mark Mendoza – will pay tribute to Pero with two fundraisers for his family, with Winery Dogs drummer Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater, filling in for Pero. On May 30, the band, best known for the rock anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” will play the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, which will be filmed and recorded for a broadcast special, a DVD and a CD. On June 13, the band will play Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J. Tickets for the Starland show are $45 and are on sale now.
Pero was on tour with Adrenaline Mob when he died of an apparent heart attack while on the band’s tour bus near Poughkeepsie,.
Snider wrote on his radio show’s website, House of Hair, that the proceeds from the benefits will help Pero’s family in the short-term while the drummer’s estate is settled.
Portnoy will also fill in for Pero throughout the rest of Twisted Sister’s concert dates this year, which will go on as scheduled. Twisted Sister and Portnoy began rehearsals this week, following a meeting to discuss how the band would replace Pero.
“A.J. was the final piece in a band that would become an international sensation and one of the greatest live rock acts to ever hit the stage,” Snider wrote on his website. “His sledgehammer assault on the drums helped drive Twisted Sister and I to greatness and inspired me to rock every single show. My heart breaks knowing I will never feel the power of his beat behind me, or turn to see his face smiling broadly from the sheer joy he got from doing what he loved. I will always remember that smile.”
