Dee Snider Bio
Daniel “Dee” Snider (born March 15, 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and media personality, best known as the former lead singer and principal songwriter of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He rose to international prominence in the 1980s through the band’s anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and the album Stay Hungry, both released in 1984. Beyond Twisted Sister, Snider has fronted the bands Desperado, Widowmaker, and SMFs (Sick Mutha Fuckers), released solo records, hosted radio programs such as The House of Hair, and built a parallel career as an actor, voice artist, author, and outspoken critic of music censorship. He was ranked #83 in Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time, and his career has spanned more than five decades.
Early Life and Background
Daniel Snider was born on March 15, 1955, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City, to art teacher Marguerite and New York State Trooper (and later Nassau County court clerk) Bob Snider. He has Swiss and Ukrainian ancestry, and although his mother was Catholic and his father was Jewish, he and his siblings were raised as Episcopalians following his mother’s conversion. Snider grew up in the Long Island towns of Baldwin and Freeport, where his early interest in performance took root.
He sang in church choirs, school choruses, and concert choirs throughout his youth, and his vocal talent was strong enough to earn him selection for the All-State Chorus. Snider graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in 1973, and his Long Island upbringing and musical family environment laid the foundation for his future in rock and heavy metal. The stage was set for him to pursue music full-time just a few years later.
Path to Music
Snider began his music career in the mid-1970s, joining Twisted Sister in early 1976 and quickly becoming the group’s sole songwriter. The band built its following the hard way, performing across the New York club circuit and the United Kingdom before landing a record deal. Their first studio album, Under the Blade, arrived in September 1982, followed by You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll in 1983, and the breakthrough Stay Hungry in 1984. To establish a visual identity, Snider adopted a signature look of long blond curls, heavy eye shadow and rouge, a beauty mark, and bright red lipstick.
While fronting Twisted Sister, Snider also broadened his range by hosting MTV’s Heavy Metal Mania in 1985, the first program on the network dedicated entirely to heavy metal videos. That same year, he testified before the United States Senate against the Parents Music Resource Center’s proposed album warning system, becoming one of the most recognizable voices in the late-1980s debate over music censorship. The combination of chart success, television presence, and political engagement transformed him from band frontman into a household name.
Dee Snider Career
Early Career (1976–1983)
Twisted Sister’s first studio album, Under the Blade, was released in September 1982 and found a strong audience in the United Kingdom, helping the band cultivate a transatlantic following. Less than a year later, the group released You Can’t Stop Rock ‘n’ Roll, refining their punchy, hook-driven heavy metal sound. During this period, Snider was crafting the visual and lyrical identity that would define Twisted Sister for the rest of the decade, drawing on campy drag imagery and anthemic songwriting to set the band apart from harder-edged contemporaries.
The groundwork paid off. By the time the band entered the studio to record their third album, they had built a devoted fan base and a clear artistic vision. The hits generated by Stay Hungry would push Twisted Sister to the top of the heavy metal world and establish Snider as one of the most distinctive frontmen in the genre.
Breakthrough (1984–1987)
Stay Hungry, released on May 10, 1984, became Twisted Sister’s most commercially successful record, powered by the singles “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” “We’re Not Gonna Take It” reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and No. 2 on the UK singles chart, and was later ranked No. 47 on 100 Greatest 80’s Songs. That same year, Snider was arrested in Amarillo, Texas, on obscenity charges after cursing at a disruptive audience member, but the charges were eventually dropped.
In 1985, Snider hosted the inaugural episode of MTV’s Heavy Metal Mania, while Twisted Sister released the album Come Out and Play, which sold more than 500,000 copies in the United States. The band placed “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on the PMRC’s “Filthy Fifteen” list, prompting Snider to testify before the U.S. Senate alongside John Denver and Frank Zappa against government-imposed album labeling. The proposed warning system was never implemented, and the music industry adopted a voluntary “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” label instead.
Twisted Sister’s fifth album, Love Is for Suckers, arrived in 1987, and Snider announced his departure from the band on October 12, 1987. He quickly formed the short-lived supergroup Desperado, featuring ex-Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme, and bassist Marc Russel, though the group’s only album, Ace, was never officially released and became a heavily bootlegged collector’s item.
Notable Works and Milestones
Snider’s signature work remains Stay Hungry and its anthems “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock,” which became rallying cries for generations of fans. He has earned a Hit Parader ranking among the Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time, hosted pioneering heavy metal programming on MTV, and testified before the U.S. Senate in defense of artistic freedom. His dramatic moments include a high-profile obscenity arrest, a celebrated Senate showdown with Tipper Gore, and decades of sold-out performances with Twisted Sister.
Dee Snider Award Nominations
Dee Snider has accumulated a series of nominations and industry recognitions across his music, radio, film, and television career, including his appearance on the Revolver Magazine/Guitar World Rock and Roll Roast in 2013, where he served as the featured honoree. Snider competed on multiple reality programs, including CMT’s Gone Country in 2008 and season nine of The Masked Singer in 2023, earning visibility in country and television formats. He has also received recognition for his writing, including co-authoring Dee Snider’s Teenage Survival Guide and his autobiography Shut Up and Give Me the Mic.
Dee Snider Awards Won
Snider’s most celebrated wins are tied to the commercial and cultural impact of Twisted Sister’s 1980s catalog, particularly the chart success of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” His music, hosting, and writing have been widely recognized across heavy metal, rock, and mainstream media, and he has been honored as one of the top metal vocalists in history by Hit Parader. Snider continues to be acknowledged for his role in shaping the heavy metal and glam metal movements of the 1980s.
Dee Snider Family
Dee Snider was born to art teacher Marguerite and New York State Trooper (and later Nassau County court clerk) Bob Snider, and raised in the Long Island towns of Baldwin and Freeport. He has Swiss and Ukrainian ancestry, and although his mother was Catholic and his father was Jewish, he and his siblings were raised as Episcopalians. In 2003, his brother-in-law Vincent Gargiulo was murdered, and the killer was apprehended in 2009.
Personal Life
Snider married costume designer Suzette in 1981, and the couple has four children: Jesse (born 1982), Shane (born 1988), Cody (born 1989), and Cheyenne (born 1996). Jesse became a comic book writer, and Cheyenne was a member of the band They All Float. Snider has at least four grandchildren, and he and his family lived part-time in East Setauket, New York, before relocating to Oak Ridge, North Carolina, where they reside as of 2025. He has remained outspoken on political and cultural issues, including defending his songs when they are adopted by causes he supports and pushing back when they are used by movements he opposes.