Singer Dee Snider is celebrating his birthday today and this is a good opportunity to tell you some interesting facts about him:
(Photo: Paul Natkin)
1. He was born in Astoria, Queens, New York, on March 15, 1955 as Daniel "Dee" Snider.
2. His father was a Jew, a government official of the state of New York. His mother was an art teacher and a Catholic Christian.
3. As a child, he sang in a church choir, school choirs and high school concert choirs. Because he was so good, Snider was even on the All-State Choir.
4. In early 1976, Snyder joined "Twisted Sister" and became the band's primary songwriter.
5. To emphasize the "Twisted Sister" image, Snider adopted a drag persona with long curly blonde hair and an excessive amount of makeup.
5. In 1982 the band released their debut album "Under the Blade".
6. Less than a year later "Twisted Sister" released their second album "You Can't Stop Rock'n'Roll".
7. The big break came with their third album "Stay Hungry" from 1984. It became the band's most successful record with hits like: "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock".
8. In the early 1980s, the "Parents Music Resource Center" criticized Dee and "Twisted Sister" for alleging violence in their videos for the songs "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock". This led to the famous stickers affixed to albums, to warn parents and children of offensive content in music.
9. In order to try and convey the evil of the decree, Dee testified before the American Congress and gave an eloquent and instructive performance that completely contradicted his outward appearance.
10. In 1985, he hosted the first episode of the "Heavy Metal Mania" show, broadcast on the MTV channel. This is a program that included metal news, interviews with metal artists and more and preceded the legendary program "Headbangers Ball".
11. In the same year, "Twisted Sister" released their fourth album "Come Out and Play".
12. In 1987, the band released their fifth album "Love Is for Suckers". The record was originally planned to be a solo album by Snider, but the record company "Atlantic Records" convinced him to release it under the name "Twisted Sister".
13. In October 1987, Snider announced his departure from the band. During this time he formed "Desperado", a supergroup featuring ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme, and bassist Marc Russel. The band's only album "Ace" was recorded in 1988, but never officially released, later in 1996 it was released under the name "Bloodied But Unbowed", due to problems with the record company.
14. Snider later formed "Widowmaker" with guitarist Al Pitrelli, bassist Marc Russel and drummer Joey Franco - formerly of "Twisted Sister". The quartet recorded two albums called "Blood and Bullets" and Stand By "for Pain".
15. In the late 1990s, Snider toured with a self-tribute band called "Dee Snider's SMFs (Sick Mother Fuckers)".
16. In 1993, Snider composed the theme song for the "Fox Kids" show called "The Terrible Thunderlizards".
17. In 1997, Snider began hosting "The House of Hair", a hard rock/heavy metal radio show that aired on over 200 radio stations across North America.
18. In 1998 Snider wrote a song called "The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)", it was a song he wrote as a Christmas present to his wife.
19. When he learned that Celine Dion wanted to include it on her 1998 album "These Are Special Times", he asked that she not be told he wrote it. Only years later did she discover that Dee was the writer.
20. Later that year, he also wrote and starred in the horror film "Strangeland". Snider also wrote the screenplay for the sequel "Strangeland: Disciple".
21. From June 1999 to August 2003, Snider hosted a morning radio show on 104.1 FM WMRQ in Connecticut called "Dee Snider Radio". His show returned to the air in August 2004 on station 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia until June 2005.
22. In 2001, Snider voiced Gol Acheron, the main villain of the PlayStation 2 video game "Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy".
23. Snider also starred in the 2002 TV movie "Warning: Parental Advisory".
24. Although only his father is Jewish and he grew up as a Catholic Christian, he sat down in 2005 at the Pesach Sedder table together with the Jews Scott Ian from "Anthrax", Leslie West guitarist from "Mountain", together with JJ French guitarist from "Twisted Sister". This "Sedder Night" was filmed for the "VH1 Classic" channel.
25. Snider also voiced Angry Jack in the episode "Shell Shocked" for the Nickelodeon cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants". He admitted that he is a big fan of the show.
26. In 2003 he participated in the project "Van Helsing's Curse", which combined metal with orchestral elements in the style of the "Trans-Siberian Orchestra". The band's first album "Oculus Infernum" was released the same year.
27. Dee met his wife Suzette when she was 15 and he was 21 after she snuck into a Long Island nightclub. They married in 1981, have been together ever since and have four children.
28. In 2012, Dee was on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" but was fired in ninth place out of 18 people. The following year, he returned to the show but was fired in second place that season.
29. In 2012, Dee and his family appeared on "Celebrity Wife Swap." In the same episode, Snider swapped with the rapper Flavor Flav.
30. In 2010, Dee and his family appeared on the A&E reality series "Growing Up Twisted".
31. Snider guest starred in the video "Immaculate Misconception" by the metalcore band "Motionless in White". Snider's son, Cody Blue Snider, directed the video.
32. Dee released 5 studio albums in his solo career, the first "Never Let the Bastards Wear You Down" in 2000 and the fifth "Leave a Scar" in 2021.