Key Takeaways
- Inspiration Source: Dee Snider cited Bruce Dickinson’s conversation as a major influence on his comeback attempt.
- Health Concerns: Snider revealed he faced unexpected health issues, including a heart condition, before his surgery.
- Family Influence: His family urged him to reconsider his return to the stage, emphasizing that it was driven by ego.
- Performance Reflection: After performing with Lita Ford, Snider realized the physical limitations imposed by his surgeries.
Dee Snider said he took too much inspiration from a conversation with Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, which prompted him to try to stage a comeback with Twisted Sister.
Snider confirmed last month that he wouldn’t rejoin his bandmates for a reunion 10 years after they retired, citing health reasons. He later gave his blessing to Sebastian Bach coming in to replace him for the shows.
In a recent episode of the Beardo and Weirdo podcast (which you can see below), Snider said Dickinson called him after hearing he was to undergo hip replacement surgery.
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“I blame Bruce Dickinson,” Snider joked. “When I found out that my hip was shot… he reaches out to say, ‘Dee I’ve had it done twice.’ He goes,’’And I’m back in action … I’m thrusting, I’m parrying.’ … When I heard him say, ‘Okay, back in action 100 percent,’ I was like, ‘Alright, I could do this!’”
The situation became more complicated. “When I was going for the surgery I found out that I had a heart issue that I did not know about. And that was when they pulled the rug out from under me. And then I still, like an asshole, I got the hip!”
Snider said it was definitely an improvement, which encouraged him to try returning to action by performing a few songs with Lita Ford. “I walk out on stage and I’m going, ‘Damn, this thing feels good!’ I’m thrusting and I’m parrying – bounce, bounce, bounce – and the knee goes. Three bounces, knee goes.”
That gave him a flashback to a chat with his surgeon, who’d warned him that even with a new hip he wouldn’t be able to move the way he’d done in the past. “And I’m just hearing that surgeon going, ‘You’re done. You’re done. You’re done.’”
Dee Snider’s Family Told Him Comeback Attempt was ‘Pure Ego’
After he’d had work done on the knee, Snider asked himself: “Am I gonna keep playing this game? I go out there and then I break something else and I tear something else, or I injure something else? Or I enjoy my life.
“Day to day I’m living my best life … I built a family compound in North Carolina. I’ve got all my kids, my wife, my grandkids, everybody here. … But for my ego, do I really need to get up there on stage and prove I could do it one more time?”
He added that a talk with his family led him to realize he had to bow out of the reunion. “My family literally had to sit down with me and pretty much beg me to stop. … My kids, they’re like, ‘Why are you doing this? What you got to prove? It’s not a financial thing for you. You’ve got everything that you ever dreamed of, everything you wanted. It’s pure ego.’”
Watch Dee Snider’s ‘Beardo and Weirdo’ Interview
