List of Twisted Sister members

Two lineups of Twisted Sister in 2006 (top) and 2016 (bottom).

Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey. Formed in late December 1972 as cover band Silver Star, the group changed its name to Twisted Sister in February 1973 and originally included lead vocalist Michael "Valentine" O'Neill, guitarists Jay Jay French and Billy "Diamond" Stiger, bassist Kenny Neill and drummer Mel "Starr" Anderson.[1][2] The band took a short hiatus in December 1974, after O'Neill instigated a fight with Anderson and threatened to shoot the drummer.[3] They returned early the following year with new vocalist Frank "Rick Prince" Karuba and guitarist Keith "Angel" Angelino (in place of Stiger), although both had left before the end of the year, with French and Angelino's replacement Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda taking over lead vocal duties temporarily before another short hiatus.[4]

By February 1976, Twisted Sister had returned with new frontman Dee Snider and drummer Kevin John Grace.[5] Tony Petri took over on drums a few months later.[6] Neill left two years later in December 1978, with his place taken by Mark "The Animal" Mendoza.[7] The band changed drummers three more times in the early 1980s, first when Richie Teeter replaced Petri in December 1980, followed by Joey Brighton in April 1981, and finally by Anthony "A. J." Pero in April 1982.[6][8] The lineup of Snider, French, Ojeda, Mendoza and Pero released four studio albums between 1982 and 1985, before Pero left in 1986 to rejoin his former band Cities.[9] He was replaced by Joey "Seven" Franco, who performed on the group's last album Love Is for Suckers before breaking up in early 1988, following Snider's departure in October 1987.[1]

Twisted Sister reunited in 1998 to record "Heroes Are Hard to Find" for the film Strangeland, written and co-produced by Snider.[10] The band reformed again to perform live for the first time in 14 years at New York Steel in November 2001, a benefit concert for organisations affected by the September 11 attacks.[11] A more permanent reunion followed in 2003, spawning new studio recordings and live releases.[12] The band retained the same lineup until March 2015, when Pero died of a heart attack while touring with Adrenaline Mob.[13] Following the drummer's death, the band announced that it was to embark on a final tour before breaking up in 2016, enlisting Mike Portnoy to take over for (late)A.J. Pero.[14] The final Twisted Sister show took place on November 12, 2016, in Monterrey, Mexico at the Corona Northside Rock Park Meeting Fest.[15]

## Contents

* 1 Members
* 1.1 Most prominent lineup
* 1.2 Other members
* 2 Lineups
* 3 Timeline
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Members[edit]

### Most prominent lineup[edit]

Image  | Name  | Years active  | Instruments  | Release contributions

|
|
|
|

| Jay Jay French |

* 1972–1988
* 1998
* 2001
* 2003–2016

* lead and rhythm guitars
* backing vocals (also lead vocals from 1975 to 1976)

| all Twisted Sister releases

| Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda |

* 1975–1988
* 1998
* 2001
* 2003–2016

| Dee Snider |

* 1976–1987
* 1998
* 2001
* 2003–2016

| lead vocals

| Mark "The Animal" Mendoza |

* 1978–1988
* 1998
* 2001
* 2003–2016

* bass
* backing vocals

| Anthony "A. J." Pero |

* 1982–1986
* 1998
* 2001
* 2003–2015
(until his death)

* drums
* percussion
* backing vocals

| all Twisted Sister releases from Under the Blade (1982) to Come Out and Play (1985), and from Live at Hammersmith (1994) to A Twisted X-Mas: Live in Las Vegas (2012)

### Other members[edit]

Image  | Name  | Years active  | Instruments  | Release contributions

|
|
|
|

| Kenny Neill  | 1973–1978  | bass  | Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions (1999)
| Mel "Starr" Anderson  | 1973–1975  | drums  | none
| Michael "Valentine" O'Neill  | 1973–1974  | lead vocals
| Billy "Diamond" Stiger  | 1973–1974 (died 2015) | lead and rhythm guitars
| Keith "Angel" Angelino  | 1975 (died 1986)
| Frank "Rick Prince" Karuba  | 1975  | lead vocals
| Kevin John Grace  | 1975–1976  | drums
| Tony Petri  | 1976–1980  |

* "I'll Never Grow Up, Now!" (1979)
* "Bad Boys (Of Rock N' Roll)" (1980)
* Ruff Cutts (1982)
* Live at Hammersmith (1994) – two tracks only
* Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions (1999)
* Club Daze Volume II: Live in the Bars (2002)
* Live at Wacken: The Reunion (2003) – four bonus CD tracks only

| Ritchie Teeter  | 1980–1981 (died 2012) | none
| Joey Brighton  | 1981–1982 (died 2010) | Ruff Cutts (1982)
| Walt Woodward III | 1982 (died 2010) | none
| Joey "Seven" Franco | 1987–1988  |

* Love Is for Suckers (1987)
* Feel Appeal: Love Is for Suckers Extras (2021)

| Mike Portnoy | 2015–2016  | Metal Meltdown: Live from the Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas (2016)

## Lineups[edit]

1973–1974  |

* Michael O'Neill – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Billy Stiger – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mel Anderson– drums

|

1974–1975  |

* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Mel Anderson – drums

1975  |

* Frank Karuba – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Keith Angelino – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Mel Anderson – drums

1975  |

* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Keith Angelino – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Mel Anderson – drums

1975  |

* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Mel Anderson – drums

1975–1976  |

* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Kevin John Grace – drums

1976  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Kevin John Grace – drums

1976–1978  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Kenny Neill – bass
* Tony Petri – drums

1978–1980  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Tony Petri – drums

1980–1981  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Ritchie Teeter – drums

1981–1982  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Joey Brighton – drums

1982  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Walt Woodward III – drums

1982–1986  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* A. J. Pero – drums

1986–1988  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Joey Franco – drums

1988–2002  |

Disbanded
(Reunions in 1988, 1997, 2001, and 2002)

1988 (Reunion shows) |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Joey Franco \- drums

1997, 2001, 2002 (Reunion shows) |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* A. J. Pero – drums

2003–2015  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* A. J. Pero – drums

2015–2016  |

* Dee Snider – lead vocals
* Jay Jay French – rhythm & lead guitars
* Eddie Ojeda – lead & rhythm guitars
* Mark Mendoza – bass
* Mike Portnoy – drums

2016–present  |

Disbanded

## Timeline[edit]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Bienstock, Richard (March 19, 2009). "Twisted Sister: An Unpublished History". Guitar World. NewBay Media. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
2. ^ "Rhino Factoids: That Time Twisted Sister Sold Out The New York Palladium". Rhino Entertainment. March 16, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
3. ^ Reesman, Bryan (April 30, 2016). "12 Outrageous Facts About Twisted Sister". Mental Floss. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
4. ^ Hall, Norman (May 12, 2013). Heavy Metal: Die Härtesten Bands der Welt (in German). neobooks. p. 49\. ISBN 9783847636137. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
5. ^ Snider, Dee (May 28, 2013). Shut Up and Give Me the Mic. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-1451637403. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
6. ^ a b "Twisted Sister". Drummerszone. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
7. ^ "Mark Mendoza of Twisted Sister Talks G&L". G&L Guitars. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
8. ^ "Former The Dictators, Twisted Sister Drummer Richard Teeter Dead At 61". Blabbermouth.net. April 10, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
9. ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 20, 2015). "Twisted Sister Drummer A.J. Pero Dead at 55". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
10. ^ Devenish, Colin (September 1, 1998). "Dee Snider Back With Twisted New Film And Tour". MTV. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
11. ^ Titus, Christa (October 1, 2016). "7 Significant Moments in Twisted Sister's History". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
12. ^ "R.I.P. A.J. Pero of Twisted Sister". Rhino Entertainment. March 20, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
13. ^ "A.J. Pero dies at 55; drummer for heavy metal band Twisted Sister". Los Angeles Times. March 20, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
14. ^ Zadrozny, Anya (April 8, 2015). "Twisted Sister Announce 2016 Farewell Tour, Tap Drummer Mike Portnoy For 2015 Shows + Tributes". Loudwire. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
15. ^ Lach, Stef (November 14, 2016). "Watch Twisted Sister's final live performance". Classic Rock. TeamRock. Retrieved January 5, 2018.

## External links[edit]

* Twisted Sister official website

* v
* t
* e

Twisted Sister

* Jay Jay French
* Eddie Ojeda
* Dee Snider
* Mark Mendoza
* A. J. Pero
* Walt Woodward III
* Joey Franco
* Mike Portnoy

Studio albums|

* Under the Blade
* You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
* Stay Hungry
* Come Out and Play
* Love Is for Suckers
* Still Hungry
* A Twisted Christmas

Compilation albums|

* Big Hits and Nasty Cuts
* Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions
* The Essentials

Live albums|

* Live at Hammersmith
* Club Daze Volume II: Live in the Bars
* Live at Wacken: The Reunion

Singles|

* "We're Not Gonna Take It"
* "I Wanna Rock"
* "Leader of the Pack"
* "Hot Love"
* "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
* "White Christmas"
* "Silver Bells"
* "Deck the Halls"

Related|

* Members
* PMRC Senate Hearing
* Twisted Forever
* We Are Twisted Fucking Sister!

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template