Dee Snider of Twisted Sister is angry. And you should know why.
Shen A.J. Pero, drummer and original member of Twisted Sister died of a heart attack, Dee Snider took the loss very hard. He was on vacation, and flew back home to deal with the loss.
When approached at the airport as he landed the day after Pero’s death, Dee Snider told reporters:
“I’m coming home to sad news. My drummer died of a heart attack yesterday. He had a massive heart attack in his sleep, and we lost him. First member of the band to die. You don’t [replace him]. I mean, will we continue to play? Probably, for his family, ’cause his family will benefit from us playing, financially. But of the all five original members of Twisted Sister, he’s the first one we lost.”
Since that statement, an autopsy told the tale of A.J. Pero’s underlying health problems. Dee Snider is now angry that Pero has left behind a family that needs to be cared for when he did not need to leave this world so soon.
“I just gotta say, people ask me how I feel about A.J.’s passing, and quite honestly I’m going through a real period of anger right now about it. He’s a great guy, and I loved him dearly. But he had a history of heart disease, his family did. His father died in his early 60’s of heart disease. And A.J. never had himself checked out. And when they did the autopsy, he had 95% blockage on his aortas, advanced heart disease. And he didn’t have to die. And I feel it’s like basically irresponsible behavior on his part. He had two ex-wives, an ex-girlfriend of 19 years. He had four kids he left behind. You know, you have a responsibility as a parent, as an adult to get yourself checked out. So people, please, get yourself checked out. There’s no reason for people to die of heart disease in this day and age.”
Twisted Sister was already talking about calling it quits after 40 years. But they had planned on going out with a bang, with all five original members still on board. Now they have a replacement drummer filling A.J Pero’s drum throne.
