Twisted Sister Drummer AJ Pero Has Died

By Empress Eve | March 20th, 2015 at 1:20 pm
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AJ Pero, best known as the drummer for heavy metal band Twisted Sister, has died. He was 55.

The news was posted on the official Twisted Sister Facebook page this afternoon. No cause of death was given.


The members of Twisted Sister are profoundly saddened to announce the untimely passing of our brother, AJ Pero
The band, crew and most importantly the family of AJ Pero thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Hailing from Staten Island, NY, Pero was originally from NY-based band Cities. He joined fellow NY band Twisted Sister in 1982 and appeared on their debut album that year, Under the Blade. Although AJ Pero might not be a household name the way his bandmate Dee Snider is, the drummer was part of the core line-up of Twisted Sister that went on to find mega-success with 1984′s Stay Hungry, which yielded the hits “I Wanna Rock” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It”; he can be seen in the videos for those songs as well. His drums parts were a prominent part of those hits and helped define the anthemic heavy metal tunes of the genre.

Pero stayed with the Twisted Sister through 1985′s Come Out and Play, but left in 1986 to rejoin Cities. Twisted Sister lasted only a few more years before disbanding, but starting in 2007, the group has been periodically reuniting for projects and shows, of which Pero had been a part of, including the New York Steel concert to benefit the NYPD and FDNY Widows and Orphans Fund in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on NYC.

In December 2013, Pero joined the heavy metal supergroup Adrenaline Mob, which just released its latest effort, Dearly Departed, last month via Century Media Records. Earlier this month, Adrenaline Mob kicked off a U.S. tour opening for Drowning Pool. Dates were scheduled through April 3rd, with a stop tonight in Poughkeepsie, NY. The band has yet to make a statement about Pero or of any revised tour plans.

All of us here at Geeks Of Doom are saddened by the news and extend our condolences to Pero’s family and friends. The hard rock/heavy metal world has lost a giant today.

RIP AJ Pero
October 14, 1959 – March 20, 2015