Dee Snider Failed At Retirement And Is Now As Busy As Ever In A Pandemic

As recently as two years ago, Dee Snider was sure he was on the precipice of retirement.

The heavy metal hero and former Twisted Sister frontman had officially ended Twisted Sister in 2016 and was looking to wind down his career as a solo artist to focus on other, less rigorous, art forms.

But following a pandemic and a lot of time stuck at home, Dee's wanderlust is back and he's as busy as ever — he's just doing most of it from his family's tropical escape in Belize, until he can get back onstage (hopefully) later this year.

"My wife laughs every time I say I'm [retiring]," Dee told Q104.3 New York's Jim Kerr and Shelli Sonstein on Thursday morning. "...I really thought that I was going to stop live performing, stop recording ... I've been writing and really focusing on that. I'm supposed to be directing a movie. [I'm] writing screenplays for hire now. I just finished a novel, so I wanted to get into writing.

"I've been contemplating why I've changed my position. I think it's something to do with the fact that COVID was like my parents telling me I can't do it. ... So in 2018, I told all my friends and family, I said, 'That's it. I'm done. It's over.' And then the pandemic happened and said, 'You can't do it anyway.' ... 'Even if you wanted to play, you couldn't play, so you're not retiring, we retired you.' And that kind of irked me, I think. I'm just feeling this teenage frustration, like, 'You can't tell me that I can't play!'"

Dee is part of the new genre-bending Rock Me Amadeus show that blends rock, pop and classical music into a musical theatre spectacle. The show plans to ramp up its live show this year.

He also has a new solo album, Leave A Scar, due out this July, with touring plans for 2022, and he appears in season 3 of Cobra Kai on Netflix.

Watch the full conversation via the video player above!

For more on Dee's busy schedule, go here. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram!

Photo: Getty Images


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