Twisted Sister, the hair metal band best know for its 1980s hit "We're Not Gonna Take It," will sign off for good with a farewell tour in 2016, the group announced this week, less than a month after drummer A.J. Pero died of a heart attack.
The band plans to perform a few shows in tribute to Pero before the farewell tour, reportedly called
"Forty and F*** It," kicks off, TMZ reported.
"The farewell tour will feature the core lineup of Dee (Snider), Jay Jay French, Mark Mendoza, and Eddie Ojeda . . . plus Mike Portnoy (from Adrenaline Mob) will handle the drumming," the gossip website noted. "You can't stop rock 'n' roll, unless the band members are in their 60s."
One of the first Twisted Sister Pero tribute shows will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as part of the casino's Metal Meltdown event on
May 30, reported Rolling Stone on Wednesday. The band will perform with Extreme, Skid Row, and Great White.
The second tribute show will take place with Pero's family at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, on June 13.
"Today, I lost a brother," Snider told Rolling Stone when Pero died last month. "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 me to greatness and inspired me to rock every single show," he continued. "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. R.I.P., my friend."
Jay Jay French, lead guitarist and
founder of Twisted Sister, said on his Inc. blog that the band was preparing to celebrate Pero's 33rd year with the band when the news broke of his death.
"He was always affectionately known as 'the new guy,'" French wrote. "He was the first to agree with anything. He was the partner who just wanted everyone to be happy, and he never had an agenda . . . I realize that the band's collective history is so long, so deep, so intertwined that AJ's death has shaken us to the core."
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