Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French has confirmed the group will perform its scheduled concert dates in 2015 with the help of a professional drummer following the March 20 death of bandmate A.J. Pero.
The drummer died of a heart attack in his sleep in Poughkeepsie, NY at the age of 55 while on tour with Adrenaline Mob; he was just days away from meeting with French to discuss Twisted Sister’s upcoming summer schedule.
“We will honor AJ during our shows this year,” French writes on his blog at inc.com “A professional drummer who is a friend will be filling in shortly. This will allow us to fulfill our touring obligations and, most important, give us some space to make some very hard decisions about our future.”
Pero was a member of Twisted Sister from 1982-1986, 1997 and from 2001 forward. The drummer joined Adrenaline Mob in 2013 following a split with Mike Portnoy.
The tragic news of Pero’s passing has shaken Twisted Sister to the core, says French.
“We are surely not the same kids who had a dream 40 years ago to become ‘rock stars,” he writes. “We carry the scars to prove it.
“We are adults who run a business, and businesses must go on, even through a curtain of tears.”
Twisted Sister will perform at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas on May 30, followed a by a handful of summer European festivals including shows in Norway, Denmark, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Spain.
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