Dee Snider
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Dee Snider (born David Daniel Snider, on March 15, 1955 in Massapequa, New York, USA) is the frontman for American hard rock band Twisted Sister. He is somewhat of a cult icon in the heavy metal community.
As a child he sang in a church choir, and several school choruses (Snider's father is Jewish, but "left the faith when he was 15" according to Snider, quoted in The New York Times). His mother is Catholic. Both sets of families opposed his parents' marriage. His parents raised Snider and his siblings as Episcopalians. He developed a habit of dressing differently from his peers and a strong desire to become a singer in a makeup band. In 1975 Snider changed several rock bands, and in early 1976 he joined the recently formed Twisted Sister and became the only song writer of the band thereafter.
On MTV in the 80's before Headbanger's Ball, the first Heavy Metal show to feature all metal videos was called Heavy Metal Mania. The first show aired in June of 1985. Metal mania was hosted by Dee Snider and featured metal news, interviews with metal artists, in studio co-hosts, etc..
In the late 1980s, after Twisted Sister was disbanded, he formed Desperado, a band featuring ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr and ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Bernie Torme. The group's only album Bloodied But Unbowed has never been officially released but was heavily bootlegged on CD.
In the 1990s, he formed Widowmaker, a band featuring ex-Twisted Sister drummer Joey Franco and ex-Alice Cooper and future Savatage and Megadeth guitarist Al Pitrelli. They recorded two albums with limited underground success.
In the late 1990s, he toured with a "self-tribute" band called Dee Snider's SMFs, sometimes featuring ex-Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero.
In 1998, he wrote and starred in the horror film "Strangeland".
From June 1999 to August 2002, he hosted a morning radio show on a Hartford, Connecticut Clear Channel station, Radio 104 (104.1 FM WMRQ), called Dee Snider Radio. His show returned to the air at night in August 2004 on 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until June 2005. He fondly referred to his listeners as his "Peeps", and "DEE" euro stickers, printed by the station, could be seen on the bumpers of his fans' cars throughout Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. Other members of the morning show included Nick Lentino, Beth Lockwood, "Psycho Dan" Williams, Sean Robbins, and "Darkside Dave" Wallace. He frequently featured high-profile guests, including his friend and KISS singer/bassist Gene Simmons.
In 2001 he was the voice of Gol Acheron, the main villain for the PlayStation 2 videogame .
In 2002 he re-joined with the reunited Twisted Sister.
Snider played himself in the 2002 TV-movie "Warning: Parental Advisory."
In 2003 he appeared with actor Arnold Schwarznegger, during his drive to recall incumbent California Governor Gray Davis. Snider sang the Twisted Sister hit, We're Not Gonna Take It, which was adopted by the Schwarzenegger campaign.
In 2004 and 2005 he was the narrator for a live show known as [Van Helsing's Curse] which tours the US around Halloween giving a mix of famous music with dark overtones and an occasional part of a storytelling to accompany the music. The concert has also been released on CD.
As of 2005 Snider is the host of the nationally syndicated House of Hair radio show. He lives part-time in East Setauket, New York, where he raises and trains dogs.
Snider is also a narrator for many shows and specials on VH1.
Snider was featured as the 'voice' in the bumpers for MSNBC's 2001/2002 "Fiercely Independent" branding campaign.
Snider has been married to his wife Suzette since 1981. They have 4 children. They are Jesse, Shane, Cody, and Cheyenne.
External links
- [Official website]
- [}}}] at the Internet Movie Database
- [2004 interview]
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