Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider has insisted that he is not on his “death bed” after the band were recently forced to cancel their 50th anniversary tour due to his health issues.
The singer, now aged 70, shared a statement earlier this month confirming that he would be leaving the line-up with immediate effect due to a “series of challenges”.
The glam-rock icons also took to their official website at the time, to share more insight into the struggles facing Snider, which includes degenerative arthritis, that has in the past led to him undergoing multiple procedures.
Now, he has given a further update on his House of Hair radio show, saying: “I’m not dying! No, not never; I mean, we’re all dying, but not immediately.
“My announcement about cancelling the tour for health reasons, problems with my heart, arthritis, things like that… the rumours have run wild that I’m on my death bed, I am not. I just can’t do those things that I did in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s. Alright? Otherwise I’m alive and well. I’m enjoying life.”
Snider added that he’ll continue to host his radio show, write, and direct but he won’t be hitting the road anytime soon.
He continued: “You won’t see me on the stage kicking ass like I used to, because that will mess me up. So had to pull out of Twisted Sister, had to cancel the tour, my apologies for that. And thank you for all the love and care and worry and all that stuff. It was crazy the amount of people, the outpouring was beautiful, thank you very much for cheering me on. I’m OK, I just can’t do that anymore.”
Snider went on: “The truth of the matter is, I don’t want you to see me up there being less than you expect me to be. You got memories of the great shows that I did, that’s what I want to leave you with.
“Not me standing up there like Willie Nelson – nothing wrong with Willie, 95 years old, in a wheelchair – you know what I’m saying. I went out rockin’, I’m still rockin’ here, I ain’t stopping. I got a lot of life to live. My dad is 95 and still kicking, so I’m expecting to be around for a long time.”
The band retired from touring in 2016, but announced that they would be returning for a world tour last September. They first hinted at it on social media, with the frontman teasing something for their upcoming 50th anniversary.
The tour included a headline slot at the Steelhouse Festival between July 24-26 in 2026 at Hafod-y-Dafal Farm, Aberbeeg, Ebbw Vale, which would have been their first stop in the UK since they performed at Bloodstock in 2016.