Dee Snider

Dee Snider is an American musician, actor, television host and radio host from Astoria, United States. Born in 1955, he is best known as the frontman of Twisted Sister and is a recognised figure in heavy metal for his distinctive appearance and personality.

Early life

As a child, Snider sings in church choir, several school choruses and the Baldwin High School Concert Choir. He also is selected for the All State Chorus after singing Henry Purcell’s Strike the Viol. He develops an interest in dressing differently from his peers and in becoming a singer in a makeup band.

Music career

Snider joins Twisted Sister in early 1976 after moving through several rock bands in 1975. He becomes the band’s only songwriter thereafter. Twisted Sister remains the main part of his career and he later reunites with the band in 2002.

After Twisted Sister disbands in the late 1980s, Snider forms Desperado with former Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, former Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme and bassist Marc Russel. The group records one album, Ace, which is never officially released and circulates widely in bootleg form under the title Bloodied But Unbowed.

In the 1990s he forms Widowmaker with Joe Franco, Al Pitrelli and Marc Russel. The group releases Blood and Bullets and Standby For Pain.

He also tours with Dee Snider’s SMFs, a self-tribute band that sometimes includes former Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero. The usual line-up includes Dee Snider, Derek Tailer, Charlie Mills, Keith Alexander and Spike.

Broadcasting and screen work

Snider hosts the MTV metal show Heavy Metal Mania in June 1985, presenting metal news, interviews and studio co-host segments. He later hosts several radio programmes, including Dee Snider Radio on WMRQ in Hartford from June 1999 to August 2002, a night-time run on WMMR in Philadelphia from August 2004 to June 2005, House of Hair, and Fangoria Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio. He also serves as a narrator for VH1 shows and specials, and voices the 2001 PlayStation 2 game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy as the villain Gol Acheron.

In 1998 he writes and stars in the horror film Strangeland, and also writes a sequel script titled Strangeland 2: Cult of Personality. He appears in the 2002 TV film Warning: Parental Advisory as himself.

Public profile and other work

In 1985 Snider testifies before the United States Senate alongside John Denver and Frank Zappa against the Parents Music Resource Center’s proposed censorship and warning-label system. The outcome helps lead to the familiar “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label.

He is featured as the voice for MSNBC’s “Fiercely Independent” branding campaign in 2001 and 2002. In 2003 he appears with Arnold Schwarzenegger during the California recall campaign and performs Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” which the campaign adopts.

Personal life

Snider is married to Suzette from 1981 and they have four children: Jesse, Shane, Cody and Cheyenne. He lives part-time in East Setauket, New York.

Associated acts

His associated acts include Twisted Sister, Desperado, Widowmaker, Van Helsing’s Curse and Dee Snider’s Sick Mutha F**kers. Van Helsing’s Curse is a Halloween touring live show that mixes familiar music with dark themes and spoken storytelling, and it is also issued on CD.