ANAHEIM, Calif. — Metal legends Twisted Sister, known for the monster hits “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” are being inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame.
The surviving members of the group, which disbanded in 2016, are reuniting and jamming live onstage during the Metal Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Jan. 26.
“I’m going to say it straight out, we’re going to play,” said frontman Dee Snider, who along with the classic lineup of Jay Jay French, Eddie Ojeda, Mark Mendoza, and late drummer A.J. Pero, will be formally inducted during the event at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.
“We were formed in 1973, so we were there at the beginning of hard rock and heavy metal, so we very much feel that we were an important part of it,” said Snider during a phone interview from his Los Angeles area home.
“This is a great honor and an important thing,” he added.
Also being inducted at the sixth annual ceremony that night are vocalist and former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm, British metal band Raven and celebrated guitarist Chris Impellitteri.
According to Pat Gesualdo, founder and CEO of the Metal Hall of Fame, the event, which will be hosted by radio and TV personality Eddie Trunk and musician and actress Cathy Rankin, will include numerous performances and surprise artist appearances.
“Everybody is going to play and we just have a wonderful lineup this year of inductees,” Gesualdo said.
But for metal heads in attendance the highlight will be seeing Twisted Sister on stage again, although it will be minus the makeup and the outrageous outfits that they were known for back in the day.
“We haven’t worn that stuff since, maybe 2011,” Snider said, noting that the first time they played a show without gear was when Snider arrived late for a festival in Holland and didn’t have time to get dolled up.
“From that point on, we’ve never put them on again and that’s the way it’s been,” he added.
Formed in New Jersey in the early ’70s, the band played loud and hard music at clubs for more than a decade before achieving mainstream success with the 1984 punk-infused hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” which was in constant rotation on MTV and became a rebel anthem for young music fans.
“It transcended the genre, it transcended the band. Almost 40 years later, everyone knows that song,” Snider said. “It has become like a folk song and by that I mean people know the song and they sing the song.”
Twisted Sister’s other big hit was “I Wanna Rock.”
“Within the metal community, that song is considered more metallic,” he said.
Following the sudden death of Pero back in 2015, the band decided to officially call it quits. The last time fans saw Twisted Sister perform live was Nov. 12, 2016, at a music festival in Monterrey, Mexico.
But the reunion during the Metal Hall of Fame ceremony could very well just be a one-off, Snider insists.
“I know there are people in the band who would love nothing better than that, but I got no intentions,” he said. “I’ve stopped doing solo stuff now and I feel I am done. I’m just not going to go out on that stage and have people watch me get old. I’m just not that guy.”
Metal Hall of Fame
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26
Where: The Canyon Club, 28912 Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills
Tickets: $35 in advance at metalhalloffame.org or $45 at the door.
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