Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with music videos noted for their sense of slapstick humour. Besides their music, the band is equally remembered for their hairstyles and wearing androgynous clothing and make-up, leading to a categorization in the hair metal scene of the 1980s.

Twisted Sister evolved from a band named Silver Star, and experienced several membership changes before settling on the classic lineup of Jay Jay French (guitars), Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda (guitars), Dee Snider (lead vocals), Mark "The Animal" Mendoza (bass), and A. J. Pero (drums) in 1982. It was this lineup which recorded the band's first four albums. Twisted Sister's first two albums, Under the Blade (1982) and You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983), were critically well-received and earned the band underground popularity. The band achieved mainstream success with their third album, Stay Hungry (1984), and its single "We're Not Gonna Take It", which was their only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next two albums, Come Out and Play (1985) and Love Is for Suckers (1987), did not match the success of Stay Hungry, and Twisted Sister disbanded in 1988.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band played a series of one-off shows before reuniting more permanently in 2003. They released two more albums, Still Hungry (2004), a re-recording of their third album, and a Christmas album, A Twisted Christmas (2006). Following Pero's death in 2015, the band embarked on a farewell tour and subsequently separated again after completing the tour in 2016. They announced another reunion in September 2025, but their planned tour dates were cancelled in February 2026 due to Snider's health issues, which resulted in his departure from the band. In the following month, it was announced that Twisted Sister will continue as a band, with former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach filling in for Snider.

In 2013, Corey Deiterman of The Houston Press placed Twisted Sister eighth on his list of "The 10 Worst Metal Bands of the '80s". Conversely, two years later Twisted Sister was ranked at No. 73 on VH1's list of "100 greatest artists of hard rock" in 2015. One year later, the staff of Loudwire named them the 43rd-best metal band of all time. In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time", placing them third.

In late December 1972, Manhattan resident John Segall (who later renamed himself "Jay Jay French") auditioned for, and was asked to join, the "glitter band" Silver Star from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Silver Star was formed by drummer Mel Anderson ("Mel Star") as the "New Jersey version of the New York Dolls", consisting of Billy Diamond (lead guitar), Wayne Brown (lead vocals and guitar), Tony Bunn (bass) and Steve Guarino (keyboards). Michael O'Neill took over the lead vocals from Brown, who had left; Segall hated the name "Silver Star", and pushed to have it changed. O'Neill came up with the name "Twisted Sister"^{[dead link]} at a rehearsal on Valentine's Day in 1973. Along with the name change came stylistic changes that eventually spurred several members to leave the band, amicably, including Bunn and Guarino; Diamond, Star, Segall (now "Johnny Heartbreaker", soon to change his name permanently to "Jay Jay French"), and new bass player Kenneth Harrison Neill made-up the next lineup of Twisted Sister.

The band found work immediately, and started playing six nights a week. They secured a residency at the Mad Hatter in East Quogue, New York, for the summer of 1973 and played 78 shows there, and another 27 shows elsewhere, for a total of 105 shows from Memorial Day to Labor Day. By December 1974, Jay Jay had already played nearly 600 nights and about 3,000 performances, as the band played five 40-minute shows per night (each with costume changes) some ending as late as 8 AM, the following morning. At this point, the band broke-up and a second iteration brought in a new lead singer (Rick Prince) and guitar player (Keith Angel). After Prince failed to show for a rehearsal in early 1975, Jay Jay took over the lead vocals and management duties. The band split up after Labor Day weekend 1975. In October 1975, the fourth version of the band started to play the club circuit. Jay Jay hired a former high school friend named Eddie Ojeda, who joined as co-lead singer and second guitarist, and got drummer Kevin John Grace after reading an ad that Kevin had put in the Village Voice. Bassist Neill remained and completed the lineup. The band followed a more glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, the Rolling Stones, and the New York Dolls. They played at local clubs, but floundered in relative obscurity.

In February 1976, at the suggestion of the band's agent, Kevin Brenner, Jay Jay was told that the band could only go so far without being able to play Led Zeppelin cover songs and urged Jay Jay to hire Danny Snider (Dee Snider), who had been in the bands Peacock and Heathen. Danny changed his name to Dee at Jay Jay's suggestion and thus began line up number six of Twisted Sister. This version lasted just six weeks, with drummer Grace departing. The group took a heavier musical direction in April 1976 with the addition of new drummer Tony Petri, who was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Slade, and Alice Cooper. In 1978 Neill became a born-again Christian after a stint in rehab for alcoholism; his parish, however, objected to his participation in the band, which they deemed to be Satanic. After his departure, the band recruited Dictators bassist Mark Mendoza to replace him.

The band moved in a more heavy metal direction in 1978, when the group began to record its demos. Two of their demos found their way to compilation albums by New York classic rock radio station WBAB, and were later re-recorded for the band's first two albums.