Twisted Sister/Adrenaline Mob drummer AJ Pero has died of a heart attack at age 55.
Twisted Sister posted the following messages on their Facebook page.:
“The members of Twisted Sister are profoundly saddened to announce the untimely passing of our brother, AJ Pero
The band, crew and most importantly the family of AJ Pero thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time.”
“Today I lost a brother. Anthony Jude Pero passed away. A.J. was the final piece in a band that would become an international sensation and one of the greatest live rock acts to ever hit the stage. His sledgehammer assault on the drums helped drive Twisted Sister and I to greatness and inspired me to rock every single show. My heart breaks knowing I will never feel the power of his beat behind me, or turn to see his face smiling broadly from the sheer joy he got from doing what he loved. I will always remember that smile. RIP my friend.”
Dee Snider
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“AJ Pero was a force, the likes of which I doubt I will ever have the chance to play in front of again. His drumming was legendary but his heart, as a human being, was even greater.
This April 1st would have been his 32nd year as a member.
In the Twisted Sister world he was always affectionately known as “the new guy”. That is how long and deep our history was/is.
In our hearts he will always be the engine that drove the train. I loved him and today my heart has been ripped out. RIP”
Jay Jay French
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This morning I received the tragic news about AJ’s passing. As anyone would be, I am devastated. With such a loss, even I broke down and cried, allegedly the tough guy in the band. One statement says it all, “AJ was my band mate, my friend and my brother and I will miss him forever”.
Mark ‘The Animal’ Mendoza
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My family, extended Twisted Sister family, and I are heartbroken and devastated to hear the news of Anthony Jude Pero’s passing. A.J. was a dear friend and brother to me, and in my opinion, one of the most talented drummers of all time. I will always remember the amazing experiences and great laughs we shared. A.J. always had an amazing sense of humor and did his best to please everyone he came in contact with.
Back in the day, when the band first started touring, we were often room-mates and he never failed to keep me smiling. It’s very difficult for me to talk about this right now. However, I feel that out of respect for his legacy, it’s important for us to let the world know how we all felt and will always feel about him. I know I will dearly miss him, but I’m grateful to have been his friend and musical partner for thirty-eight years.
At this time, my sincerest sympathies go out to his family. Heaven just got a great drummer, one that will live forever in our hearts.
Eddie Ojeda and The Ojeda Family
Anthony Jude Pero powered the fast-paced sound of Twisted Sister, one of the most famous 1980s metal groups.
He was well-known for a scene in the video for 1984’s We’re Not Gonna Take It in which he struck a snare drum covered with glitter, sending it spraying into the air.
Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French says Pero was on tour with the band Adrenaline Mob, and members of that group were unable to rouse him on their bus Friday morning.
He was taken to a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he died.
I saw Twisted Sister with Alice Cooper and they totally blew Alice away. One of the best live bands I’ve ever seen. I had no clue AJ was that great of a drummer until I saw him play live. Very sad, especially considering they were one of the very few bands with all original guys.
I have never seen TS live, and unfortunately I will never see the classic lineup on stage. I remember as a sophomore in high school back in 1986 TS was scheduled to perform in my hometown during the Come Out and Play tour. On the morning of the show, while listening to my local rock radio station getting ready for school, an announcement was made that TS had to postpone the show due to Dee “getting emergency surgery to fix his vocal cords”. Years later I would learn that the tour itself wasn’t selling very well, and the show scheduled for my town had only sold less than 2,000 in advance. TS was the band I connected to during my adolescent years going from middle to high school. I lived and breathed TS. I burned out playing my “Stay Hungry” cassette non-stop. I had always hoped to see TS one day. Unfortunately TS never came back to my town, nor anywhere remotely close to it either. I feel so bummed out right now. The guys of TS were a real brotherhood, throughout the good, bad, and ugly times they went through. It’s ironic that it took a tragedy like 9/11 to get them all to mend their fences. Outside of perhaps a tribute show to AJ, I believe the remainder of TS will ultimately decide not to continue on as a band. They were that tight and close to one another. We’ll see one way or another.
Eddie, in your Alice Cooper podcast you mentioned that your next two will be Dee Snider and Doug Aldrich, which among other things will cover the Twitter war between the two. Perhaps out of respect to AJ you may want to consider postponing those for a few weeks.
Or maybe let the two men address it as they see fit? Perhaps it could be the impetus for them burying hatchet, which would be a tribute in itself to the man who passed.
Met AJ at Lamour in Brooklyn when he first joined the band. Couldn’t have been nicer and a kick ass drummer . My condolences to his family and the band
Rock and roll musicians are like professional athletes, their bodies must take a pounding. I guess I better start getting used to this, seeing these professional rock and rollers dying prematurely. I don’t think any postponement is warranted, however, life goes on.
That sucks! He was young, a lot younger than I thought he was. We all know the story about how Twisted Sister and the guys in the band lost everything. But when they patched everything up, reunited (Mr. Trunk played a big role in that) and got going again, they appeared to be in a good place in life. I could tell that just from interviews. Just from interviews, I also tell AJ was a good guy. May God bless and bring comfort to AJ’s family and bandmates in this sad time and may AJ rest in peace.