Metal Anarchy

Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has further commented on having to cancel the band’s 50th shows due to singer Dee Snider’s health issues. According to him, the group “had no other choice.”

French said the following:

“Today [February 7] is the actual 50th anniversary of the day that Dee auditioned in the band. 1976. Here’s the diary entry. ‘Danny Snider’ — he wasn’t Dee yet — ‘auditions for TWISTED SISTER’, February 7th, 1976.

For the last 50 years, me and [TWISTED SISTER 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. 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.

As far as the future of TWISTED SISTER is concerned, Eddie Ojeda and I 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 [an abbreviation for ‘Sick Mother Fucker’, which is what TWISTED SISTER fans are affectionately called] around the world are the thing that kept us alive and kept us going, 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.”

[via Blabbermouth]