TWISTED SISTER is officially gearing up for a major comeback in 2026, celebrating their 50th anniversary with a run of high-profile festival appearances across Europe. After years of speculation, the band is reuniting for the first time since their farewell shows in 2016.
Frontman Dee Snider will once again lead the charge, joined by founding guitarist Jay Jay French and longtime six-string partner Eddie Ojeda. While bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza won’t be part of this run, Snider’s trusted collaborator Russell Pzütto will step in on bass duties. Rounding out the lineup is drummer Joe Franco, who previously played with the band during the mid-’80s and now returns to honor the legacy of the late A.J. Pero, who passed away in 2015.
The 2026 tour will see TWISTED SISTER lighting up some of Europe’s biggest rock and metal festivals, including Sweden Rock, Copenhell, and Graspop Metal Meeting, among others.
So far, the confirmed reunion shows are as follows:
June 3–6 – Sweden Rock – Sweden
June 10 – Mind Live Arena – Milan, Italy
June 19 – Graspop Metal Meeting – Dessel, Belgium
June 26 – Copenhell – Copenhagen, Denmark
June 27 – Tons Of Rock – Oslo, Norway
July 3 – Barcelona Rock Fest – Barcelona, Spain
July 10 – Midalidare Rock In The Wine Valley – Mogilovo, Bulgaria
July 24–26 – Steelhouse XV – Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm, Ebbw Vale, United Kingdom
August 23 – Riverside – Aarburg, Switzerland
In a recent interview with John “JP” Parise of Long Island’s 102.3 WBAB and Tampa’s 102.5 The Bone, Snider opened up about why the band is returning despite his long-standing stance against reunion tours.
“First of all, I own [my previous] statements [about not wanting to stage a TWISTED SISTER reunion],” Snider said. “I singled out bands. I named names. I ranted and raved about this, and I expected to get excrements for this, but I’m getting hit hard.”
The health scare, Snider explained, was a wake-up call that made him reconsider not only his own career but also the possibility of reuniting TWISTED SISTER. After years of rejecting the idea, the decision to return to the stage ultimately came from him.
“Upon talking to my wife and re-evaluating, it was I, me, who called the [other] guys [in TWISTED SISTER],” he reveadled. “I called them. They never called. I mean, we talk, but they never brought it up because I was, like, ‘This is not happening, guys. It is done. It is over, just like I told everybody.’ But, like I said, I had a life-changing experience and re-evaluation of a lot of things, and I reached out. I said, ‘Guys, what do you think about doing it one more time?’”
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