TWISTED SISTER – Calling It Quits After Final Tour

With the recent death of drummer A.J. Pero, TWISTED SISTER have decided to tour one last time before calling it quits — putting an end to a successful career that has survived over forty years.

A rep for the band told TMZ.com that Dee Snider and the boys made the decision last month to call it quits — just one week before drummer A.J. Pero died from a heart attack. Snider himself confirmed the report simply by saying, “It’s official: farewell, new drummer announced.”

The band’s 2016 tour will be called ‘Forty and F**k It’ — but before that they’ll be honoring Pero with two tribute shows in the next few months, the first of which will take place on June 15th at New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom. The farewell tour will feature the core line-up of frontman Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, and bassist Mark Mendoza. Snider has confirmed that Pero’s replacement will be drummer Mike Portnoy, best known for his years in Dream Theater and most recently as a member of The Winery Dogs. In a strange twist, Pero replaced Portnoy in Adrenaline Mob, the band Pero was touring with at the time of his death.

A.J. Pero passed away on the morning of March 20th from a heart attack while on tour at the age of 55.

Twisted Sister first broke news of Pero’s death on Facebook, stating, “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.”

“We write this with tears in our eyes and our hearts broken to pieces… our beloved brother AJ Pero peacefully passed away in his sleep this morning on the bus,” said the members of Adrenaline Mob. “We are in complete shock and our hearts and prayers go out to his family. It has been nothing short of an honor to have shared the stage with such a beautiful soul and legend! We love you AJ, rest in peace.”

Jay Jay French said Pero was on a tour bus Friday morning when Adrenaline Mob band members tried unsuccessfully to awaken him, then called an ambulance. He was taken to a hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he was declared dead shortly after 11 a.m.

Source: Sleaze Roxx

http://www.twistedsister.com