10 Years Gone: Remembering Twisted Sister Drummer A.J. Pero

Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images

Twisted Sister's A.J. Pero passed away back on March 20, 2015 at the age of 55 in Poughkeepsie.

A.J. Pero was scheduled to perform with his band Adrenaline Mob in Poughkeepsie at The Chance on the night of March 20, 2015 and had suffered a heart attack hours beforehand. He died at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Photo credit: The Rutigliano Archives

I got to meet A.J. over the years at many Twisted Sister concerts and also got the chance to work with him with the annual Biker’s for Babies March of Dimes motorcycle events back in the day. He was such a nice guy and I was very saddened by the news when it happened. I recall djing at an area bar one night when A.J. showed up and hung out with everyone. He signed autographs and took pictures with everybody. He was a real class act. He had joined the band Adrenaline Mob in 2014 as replacement for drummer Mike Portnoy and was also a member of the band Four By Fate.

Photo credit: Frank White

On June 13, 2015 Twisted Sister payed tribute to A.J. with a special concert at Starland Ballroom in Sayerville NJ as well as a show at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas that year.

My love for Twisted Sister goes back to my youth when I got a copy of the Stay Hungry album. I also was in a talent show at Kent Summer Day Camp in Kent, NY as a young kid when we performed Twisted Sister's "I Wanna Rock" at the event.

Twisted Sister and 101.5 WPDH go way back as It's known that WPDH was the very first commercial rock radio station in the U.S. to play the song "Under The Blade" after the band's signing to the record label Secret Records. This has been mentioned by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider many times in interviews over the years and in his 2013 autobiography Shut Up and Give me the Mic.

Let's remember A.J. Pero today. Crank some Twisted Sister today in his memory! #TwistedForever #ForeverTwisted #SMF4Life