Mike Tuttle of WebProNewse reports:
Dee Snider of Twisted Sister is angry. And you should know why.
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.
3 Responses
Something I was going to touch on for a while and Dee’s comments have finallymoved me to speak up. I’ve heard Eddie and now Dee talk about getting yourself checked out for health concerns. What about simply taking care of yourself by eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise before? The first is simply reactive. What I’m suggesting is proactive & preventative and leads to a life of good health. Yet both should be done. Yet, if you eat right and exercise often the results of your check-up will almost always be good ones. Genetics play a way, way smaller part than lifestyle does and is just a false, copout excuse many use for their health issues when they almost always lifestyle related. I’m a 44 year-old rocker and love my fellow rockers yet I’ve never understood why so many rock/metal fans I see and hang with at shows are often in such bad shape. This music FIRES ME UP to be healthy. And I enjoy throwing back drinks too (I’ll be throwing back plenty on the Monsters of Rock Cruise this weekend). Yet, I eat right and exercise all the time (other than the one cheat meal I give myself every week) and don’t smoke. Rockers, eat healthy, exercise, don’t smoke and then get check-ups and be around to ROCK with me for many, many more years to come. It’s sad but A.J.’s terrible physical condition and lifestyle choices led to his demise.
It’s an American problem. It’s too easy to eat waaaay too many calories and sit on your butt for days on end. It’s a lot of work and requires a pretty substantial lifestyle change, and frankly, it’s work.
I got back from overseas and was reminded of how overweight many Americans are.
I have 2 original 45’s that have Tony Petri on drums. He was the original drummer but yeah AJ was the longest serving drummer