In a recent interview with Long & McQuade, RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson was asked whether he strove to recreate his recorded guitar solos live as accurately as possible or he tried to find room to improvise and do something different. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think traditionally we always tried to recreate what our albums were. So, certainly in the earlier days, what you heard on the record was what you were gonna hear live except that it's amplified and it's live. As things progressed, we became more complicated in our arrangements and our music, but we always tried to recreate what we did on a record live. Now, a lot of players or a lot of bands like to be quite loose in their arrangements, and certainly we loved to improvise, but for RUSH, we'd decide, 'Okay, this is where we're gonna improvise for two minutes or three minutes in the middle of this song,' and then the next time we played that song, it would be that same thing. So it was improvised for the first time. But that was the nature of the way we worked. We were very anal about being pretty accurate in whatever we did. We loosened up in the later years. But I think it was always more important to try to recreate something that people had been listening to and were used to. And certainly with solos, that's very much the case. If you play a song pretty faithfully and then you come to the solo, which can be a high point of the song, and it's not really related to the actual solo you've been listening to a million times, it's very, very disappointing, I think. So I always tried to be as close as I could to the solos that I originally did."

To mark the occasion of his collaboration with Epiphone and the release of the new Alex Lifeson Epiphone Les Paul Standard Axcess guitar, Lifeson recently debuted two brand new songs titled "Kabul Blues" and "Spy House". Fans can get a listen to "Kabul Blues" and "Spy House" in their entirety exclusively at AlexLifeson.com. These two instrumental songs mark the first new music from Lifeson in close to a decade.

RUSH drummer Neil Peart died in January 2020 in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old.

RUSH's final show took place at the Forum in Los Angeles on August 1, 2015. Peart indicated at the time that he wanted to retire while he was still able to play well, along with a desire to spend more time at home with his young daughter.

Lifeson and bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee have repeatedly said that RUSH will never do a show unless all three musicians agree to take part. They haven't performed as RUSH without Peart since he joined the band in 1974.

WHITESNAKE has announced the addition of Croatian singer/multi-instrumentalist Dino Jelusick to the group's ranks. Jelusick is a member of multi-platinum selling band TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA and was previously part of DIRTY SHIRLEY (with George Lynch), ANIMAL DRIVE and recorded with many others. Dino has been singing, touring and recording since the age of five. Other than being a frontman, his main instrument are keyboards but he also plays bass, guitar and drums. He finished music academy and did theatre work.

WHITESNAKE's David Coverdale says: "I am absolutely delighted to welcome the extremely gifted Dino Jelusick to WHITESNAKE. We've had our eyes and ears on him since we played Zagreb together two years ago. You're going to love him!"

Dino says he has been influenced by WHITESNAKE and Coverdale from an early age.

"I am beyond honored to be part of one of my favourite bands of all time," he said. "To get the phone call from David Coverdale is something every singer and musician of my generation can only dream of; it still feels completely surreal. I cannot wait to start hitting the road with WHITESNAKE and, as the great DC said to me himself, to give a piece of my identity to the sound of this iconic band."

In other news, WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER will hit the road across the U.K. and Ireland next spring alongside very special guests EUROPE. The trek will kick off in Dublin on May 10, 2022 before hitting Glasgow, Newcastle, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham, and closing in Cardiff. Tickets go on public sale this Friday, July 30 from 9 a.m. (U.K.).

Together WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER boast a catalogue that spans the decades with seminal and anthemic hits such as "Here I Go Again", "Still Of The Night" and "Is This Love" (WHITESNAKE), "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Juke Box Hero" and "Cold As Ice" (FOREIGNER), to name a few. Very special guests EUROPE will bring their electrifying 'The Final Countdown" and more to this six-date U.K. arena tour.

Says Coverdale: "After all the extraordinary challenges we've been through together over the last year and a half, I am beyond excited to be able to announce our 2022 U.K. dates. I pray every day we can all make this happen and once again share unforgettable evenings together and celebrate the amazing journey we have been on for almost 50 years. Boys and girls… WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER and EUROPE… It doesn't get any better! Let's make this night to remember… and let's make some [email protected]' noise!!!

FOREIGNER's Mick Jones says: "We can't wait to kick off the summer in the U.K. and Ireland with a massive tour alongside our friends WHITESNAKE and EUROPE. We're looking forward to playing all our biggest hits for our fans, and rocking across the country."

EUROPE's Joey Tempest says: "What an explosive start to the summer of 2022 for us! A U.K. and Ireland arena tour with our friends in WHITESNAKE and FOREIGNER! YEAH! An evening of some of the biggest anthems in classic rock! We are truly honored to be invited as special guests."

On October 29 2021, WHITESNAKE will release newly remastered and remixed CD and LP deluxe editions of "Restless Heart", along with unreleased demos and studio outtakes and a DVD. The DVD includes music videos and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album with new interviews from Coverdale. The set comes with a hardbound book filled with rare and unseen photos from the era.

WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER and EUROPE 2022 tour dates:

May 10 - 3Arena, Dublin

May 12 - SEC (SSE Hydro Arena), Glasgow

May 14 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle

May 16 - The O2 Arena, London

May 18 - AO Arena, Manchester

May 20 - Motorpoint Arena Nottingham

May 22 - Utilita Arena Birmingham

May 25 - Motorpoint Arena Cardiff

EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting is now "cancer free," more than two weeks after he underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach.

Earlier today (Monday, July 26), Hunting's EXODUS bandmate Gary Holt took to his Instagram to write: "Update of Tom! Tom has been home for around a week now, is doing very well despite the pain, is eating real food but also adjusting to a new relationship with food and a new way of having to eat. But he's a rock in all this, strong as hell and he's gonna crush this. And he is CANCER FREE. They got it all. Fuck yes!

"I know if he was on social media he would thank each and every one of you for all the well wishes, donations, tickets for the benefit show that were purchased as well as the raffle items. Only a matter of time before he is crushing the drums again! He's got some real healing to do but he is on his way to recovery".

According to Cancer.org, a total gastrectomy is done if the cancer has spread widely in the stomach. It is also often advised if the cancer is in the upper part of the stomach, near the esophagus.

On July 5, Hunting said that he had four rounds of chemotherapy and that "the mass [had] shrunk to less than half the size it was in March… After recovery [from gastrectomy], I get four more treatments, then I can resume my life cancer-free."

He added: "I can't wait to travel the world, playing music, enjoying every moment of this crazy journey!! I'll check in soon again and share how thing's are going. THANKS AND MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE!!! CHEERS!!!!"

According to Cancer.org, a total gastrectomy involves the surgeon removing the entire stomach, nearby lymph nodes, and the omentum, and possibly removing the spleen and parts of the esophagus, intestines, pancreas, or other nearby organs if the cancer has reached them. The end of the esophagus is then attached to part of the small intestine. This allows food to move down the intestinal tract. But people who have had their stomach removed can only eat a small amount of food at a time. Because of this, they will need to eat more often.

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $108,000 — including $5,000 from Tom's former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.

After Hunting went public with his diagnosis, Holt said that EXODUS will "delay" the release of its recently completed new album, "Persona Non Grata", "so that when Tom has defeated this, he will be back to full strength to hit the road and pummel his drums like only he can! When he has kicked cancer's ass like we know he will, we will resume kicking YOUR asses with the sickest record yet!" he said.

The squamous cell carcinoma of the stomach is a very uncommon entity, with worldwide incidence of 0.04% to 0.07% of all gastric cancers.

"Persona Non Grata" will be the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

"Persona Non Grata" was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap.
























View this post on Instagram









































A post shared by Gary Holt (@garyholt_official)

Former SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison has died at the age of 46.

The news of his passing was broken in a statement from his family.

The statement reads: "We are heartbroken to share the news that Joey Jordison, prolific drummer, musician and artist passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 26th, 2021. He was 46.

"Joey's death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow.

"To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart and his love for all things family and music.

"The family of Joey have asked that friends, fans and media understandably respect our need for privacy and peace at this incredibly difficult time.

"The family will hold a private funeral service and asks the media and public to respect their wish

Progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER will reveal the details of their upcoming album on Wednesday, July 28.

The band's fan club has been sharing a series of teasers revealing the lengths and acronyms of all the songs that are set to appear on the follow-up to 2019's "Distance Over Time". They are as follows:

* TA (09:32)

* ATC (07:35)

* IM (06:02)

* SG (10:05)

* TT (06:25)

* ATM (09:47)

* AVFTTOTW (20:24)

This past April, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie told "Breaking Absolutes" that he and his bandmates "upped the ante" with their new LP. I said to [guitarist] John [Petrucci] when I was finishing the last vocal, I said, 'You know what? We just hit a whole new level.' And I said, 'This is our 15th freaking album, and we've done it again. There's something going on here that I think the fans are just gonna flip out when they hear it.' And he goes, 'I said that to my wife the other night. I was sitting down. I was listening to the album from front to back, and I was freaking out.' And I go, 'Same here. I'm listening to these songs when we're done, and I'm going back to the hotel room and I'm listening to them, and I'm going, 'Holy shit. What the hell is going on here?'' And I think it's very exciting. And even Jordan [Rudess, keyboards] — he was FaceTiming me, going, 'Holy shit.' He's all amped up. He's, like, 'Is it just me or are you hearing this stuff?' And I'm, like, 'No, man. There's something really cool going on here.' And he's going, 'The fans are gonna freak out.'I go, 'Yeah, they are. They really are.'"

Also in April, Petrucci told Germany's Thomann that DREAM THEATER had been working on the new album since October. "And I am super excited about it. The record [is] filled with energy and excitement and positivity. I'm excited about it. I can't wait for people to hear that."

DREAM THEATER's new album is tentatively due in the fall.

"Distance Over Time" marked DREAM THEATER's first album for for Sony Music's progressive imprint InsideOut Music. The group spent 25 years recording under various labels in the Warner Music Group system, most recently Roadrunner Records, which released five albums by the band between 2007 and 2016.

DREAM THEATER recently released its ninth career live album, "Distant Memories - Live In London". Recorded at DREAM THEATER's sold-out show at the Apollo Theatre in London, the live release documents the band's world tour in support of "Distance Over Time" and the 20th anniversary of their seminal concept album "Metropolis Part 2 - Scenes From A Memory".
























View this post on Instagram









































A post shared by Dream Theater World (@dreamtheaterworld)

METALLICA has shared "Don't Tread on Me (Pre-Production Rehearsal)", taken from the "Pre-Production Rehearsals" CD included in the remastered deluxe box set of its self-titled fifth album — also known as "The Black Album" — due on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. The track was recorded live during pre-production rehearsals at Bayview Studios in Richmond, California on October 4, 1990. Check it out below.

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album is receiving its definitive re-release. Remastered for ultimate sound quality, The Black Album remaster will be available in multiple configurations including 180-gram double vinyl LP, standard CD and 3 CD expanded edition, digital, and limited-edition deluxe box set (containing the album remastered on 180-gram 2LP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), 6 DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a METALLICA lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card).

Much more than a mere tribute album, "The Metallica Blacklist" celebrates the enduring influence of this musical milestone with one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived by the METALLICA team: An unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album cut.

"The Metallica Blacklist" offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to METALLICA — and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes. "The Metallica Blacklist"'s 53 tracks find singer songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more… and for 50+ good causes: Profits will be divided evenly between charities of the artist's choice and METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation.

"The Metallica Blacklist" is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who've shared stages with METALLICA alongside artists who are younger than the original album. It's a truly staggering, at times mystifying assemblage of musicians, dozens of whom have little to nothing in common other than the shared passion for the music that's united them for this album: 1 Album. 12 Songs. 53 Artists. Unlimited Possibilities.

"The Metallica Blacklist" will be available in formats including digital, four-CD and a limited-edition seven-LP vinyl pressing. Pre-orders will instantly receive multi-platinum selling recording artist, songwriter, philanthropist and trailblazer Miley Cyrus's version of "Nothing Else Matters" featuring Andrew Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith, and Colombian-born rock/pop superstar, and winner of 20+ Grammy and Latin Music Grammy Awards Juanes's interpretation of "Enter Sandman".

All profits from "The Metallica Blacklist" will be split evenly between the All Within My Hands foundation and 50+ charities chosen by the artists who play on the album. All Within My Hands was founded by the band in 2017 as a way for the entire METALLICA family to give back to communities that have supported the band by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services.

"The Metallica Blacklist" features the following tracks:

* ALESSIA CARA & THE WARNING - Enter Sandman

* MAC DEMARCO - Enter Sandman

* GHOST - Enter Sandman

* JUANES - Enter Sandman

* RINA SAWAYAMA - Enter Sandman

* WEEZER - Enter Sandman

* SAM FENDER - Sad But True (Live)

* JASON ISBELL - Sad But True

* MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND FEAT. LA PERLA & GERA MX - Sad But True

* ROYAL BLOOD - Sad But True

* ST. VINCENT - Sad But True

* WHITE REAPER - Sad But True

* YB - Sad But True

* BIFFY CLYRO - Holier Than Thou

* THE CHATS - Holier Than Thou

* OFF! - Holier Than Thou

* PUP - Holier Than Thou

* COREY TAYLOR - Holier Than Thou

* CAGE THE ELEPHANT - The Unforgiven

* VISHAL DADLANI, DIVINE, SHOR POLICE - The Unforgiven

* DIET CIG - The Unforgiven

* FLATBUSH ZOMBIES FEAT. DJ SCRATCH - The Unforgiven

* HA*ASH - The Unforgiven

* JOSÉ MADERO - The Unforgiven

* MOSES SUMNEY - The Unforgiven

* J BALVIN - Wherever I May Roam

* CHASE & STATUS FEAT. BACKROAD GEE - Wherever I May Roam

* THE NEPTUNES - Wherever I May Roam

* JON PARDI - Wherever I May Roam

* SEBASTIAN - Don't Tread On Else Matters

* PORTUGAL. THE MAN FEAT. AARON BEAM - Don't Tread On Me

* VOLBEAT - Don't Tread On Me

* THE HU - Through The Never

* TOMI OWÓ - Through The Never

* PHOEBE BRIDGERS - Nothing Else Matters

* MILEY CYRUS FEAT. WATT, ELTON JOHN, YO-YO MA, ROBERT TRUJILLO, CHAD SMITH - Nothing Else Matters

* DAVE GAHAN - Nothing Else Matters

* MICKEY GUYTON - Nothing Else Matters

* DERMOT KENNEDY - Nothing Else Matters

* MON LAFERTE - Nothing Else Matters

* IGOR LEVIT - Nothing Else Matters

* MY MORNING JACKET - Nothing Else Matters

* PG ROXETTE - Nothing Else Matters

* DARIUS RUCKER - Nothing Else Matters

* CHRIS STAPLETON - Nothing Else Matters

* TRESOR - Nothing Else Matters

* GOODNIGHT, TEXAS - Of Wolf And Man

* IDLES - The God That Failed

* IMELDA MAY - the god that failed

* CHERRY GLAZERR - My Friend Of Misery

* IZÏA - My Friend Of Misery

* KAMASI WASHINGTON - My Friend Of Misery

* RODRIGO Y GABRIELA - The Struggle Within

Back in 2017, METALLICA announced that it was preparing deluxe remastered versions of its "…And Justice For All" (1988) and "Metallica" (1991) albums and reached out to its hardcore fans for help to get content for the new editions. "…And Justice For All" has since been reissued for its 30th anniversary in 2018.

METALLICA's self-titled LP in 2014 became the first album to sell 16 million copies since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

"Metallica" was already certified 16 times platinum on December 13, 2012 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 16 million copies in the U.S.

The album in 2009 surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record, "Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the SoundScan era.

"Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc.

METALLICA performed "the black album" in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012.

Danish/American rock and rollers VOLBEAT have shared their version of "Don't Tread On Me" from the forthcoming album "The Metallica Blacklist". The collection features an unprecedented 50+ artists contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite cut from METALLICA's self-titled fifth album, celebrating the 30th anniversary of "Metallica" (a.k.a. "The Black Album"). All profits from "The Metallica Blacklist" will be donated to charity, benefiting METALLICA's All Within My Hands foundation and a charity of each contributing artists' choice. For "Don't Tread On Me", VOLBEAT has chosen the Børne Cancer Fonden in Denmark.

VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen says about the song: "We didn't want to touch any of the big hits on that album, which is quite difficult because they're all hits, somehow. We were trying to pick a song that you don't hear as much from that album, and the most important thing was to pick a song where we could transform it into a VOLBEAT song. 'Don't Tread On Me' definitely had a swing that I could turn into a VOLBEAT swing, and it turned out really great."

"The Metallica Blacklist" will be available on digital and streaming on September 10, and on vinyl and CD October 1.

"The Metallica Blacklist" offers up new dimensions of the record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to METALLICA — and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes. "The Metallica Blacklist"'s 53 tracks find singer songwriters, country artists, electronic and hip-hop artists sharing their love of these songs alongside punk rockers, indie darlings, icons of rock, metal, world music and many, many more… and for 50+ good causes.

"The Metallica Blacklist" is a fitting and limitless homage, one that features bands who've shared stages with METALLICA alongside artists who are younger than the original album. It's a truly staggering, at times mystifying assemblage of musicians, dozens of whom have little to nothing in common other than the shared passion for the music that's united them for this album: 1 Album. 12 Songs. 53 Artists. Unlimited Possibilities.

"The Metallica Blacklist" features the following tracks:

* ALESSIA CARA & THE WARNING - Enter Sandman

* MAC DEMARCO - Enter Sandman

* GHOST - Enter Sandman

* JUANES - Enter Sandman

* RINA SAWAYAMA - Enter Sandman

* WEEZER - Enter Sandman

* SAM FENDER - Sad But True (Live)

* JASON ISBELL - Sad But True

* MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND FEAT. LA PERLA & GERA MX - Sad But True

* ROYAL BLOOD - Sad But True

* ST. VINCENT - Sad But True

* WHITE REAPER - Sad But True

* YB - Sad But True

* BIFFY CLYRO - Holier Than Thou

* THE CHATS - Holier Than Thou

* OFF! - Holier Than Thou

* PUP - Holier Than Thou

* COREY TAYLOR - Holier Than Thou

* CAGE THE ELEPHANT - The Unforgiven

* VISHAL DADLANI, DIVINE, SHOR POLICE - The Unforgiven

* DIET CIG - The Unforgiven

* FLATBUSH ZOMBIES FEAT. DJ SCRATCH - The Unforgiven

* HA*ASH - The Unforgiven

* JOSÉ MADERO - The Unforgiven

* MOSES SUMNEY - The Unforgiven

* J BALVIN - Wherever I May Roam

* CHASE & STATUS FEAT. BACKROAD GEE - Wherever I May Roam

* THE NEPTUNES - Wherever I May Roam

* JON PARDI - Wherever I May Roam

* SEBASTIAN - Don't Tread On Else Matters

* PORTUGAL. THE MAN FEAT. AARON BEAM - Don't Tread On Me

* VOLBEAT - Don't Tread On Me

* THE HU - Through The Never

* TOMI OWÓ - Through The Never

* PHOEBE BRIDGERS - Nothing Else Matters

* MILEY CYRUS FEAT. WATT, ELTON JOHN, YO-YO MA, ROBERT TRUJILLO, CHAD SMITH - Nothing Else Matters

* DAVE GAHAN - Nothing Else Matters

* MICKEY GUYTON - Nothing Else Matters

* DERMOT KENNEDY - Nothing Else Matters

* MON LAFERTE - Nothing Else Matters

* IGOR LEVIT - Nothing Else Matters

* MY MORNING JACKET - Nothing Else Matters

* PG ROXETTE - Nothing Else Matters

* DARIUS RUCKER - Nothing Else Matters

* CHRIS STAPLETON - Nothing Else Matters

* TRESOR - Nothing Else Matters

* GOODNIGHT, TEXAS - Of Wolf And Man

* IDLES - The God That Failed

* IMELDA MAY - the god that failed

* CHERRY GLAZERR - My Friend Of Misery

* IZÏA - My Friend Of Misery

* KAMASI WASHINGTON - My Friend Of Misery

* RODRIGO Y GABRIELA - The Struggle Within

In a brand new interview with Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada's The Metal Voice, Dee Snider revealed that TWISTED SISTER didn't get the first royalty check from its record company until more than a decade after the release of the band's most commercially successful album, "Stay Hungry". "TWISTED SISTER didn't start receiving any album-sales royalties till we recorded 'Heroes Are Hard To Find' for the 'Strangeland' soundtrack," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "And in order to get the band to reunite, the record label wiped our debt out. That was 1997. The band had been broken up for 10 years. We had sold tens of millions of records. We had not gotten one royalty check. Ahmet Ertegun [co-founder and president of Atlantic Records], somebody brought up to his attention that we were still in the red all these years later, and they were trying to get us [back] together and said, 'Ahmet, would you please just wipe these guys' account clean? Haven't we got enough from them?' And Ahmet Ertegun probably didn't even know those things. He's the founder of Atlantic Records. He's passed. He's the man; he was sort of the Clive Davis of Atlantic Records. But he saw it and he said, 'They paid enough.' So we've been getting royalty checks. But the ones we should have gotten? Those big ones? We never got 'em."

Snider, who was credited with writing all the music and lyrics in TWISTED SISTER, went on to clarify that his publishing company collected his songwriter royalties for him which were not part of the Atlantic deal.

"Songwriters get songwriter royalties, and I was a songwriter. I got those," Dee said. "Because they are independent of the band and the record label… So I got paid, thankfully, for that. But then there's the mechanical royalties for record sales. So, in '97 we started getting royalties, and by — what? When did Napster come out? 2001? So, a few years later, people stopped buying records. So our royalty checks are a joke. Spotify. Spotify pays nothing — nothing."

In 2015, Snider sold his Snidest Music music publishing catalog of 69 songs — including the classic TWISTED SISTER rock anthems "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" — to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) for what he later said was "a lot of money."

TWISTED SISTER rose to prominence from the New York club scene in the early 1980s. Their biggest album, the aforementioned "Stay Hungry" (which came out in 1984), contained "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock".

In 2016, TWISTED SISTER embarked on one final trek, titled "Forty And Fuck It", in celebration of its 40th anniversary. These shows featured the band's "core lineup" of Snider, guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, and bassist Mark Mendoza, along with drummer Mike Portnoy. The band's last-ever concert took place in November of that year — 20 months after the passing of drummer A.J. Pero.

TWISTED SISTER's original run ended in the late '80s. After more than a decade, the band publicly reunited in November 2001 to top the bill of New York Steel, a hard-rock benefit concert to raise money for the New York Police And Fire Widows' And Children's Benefit Fund.