Jay Jay French recently addressed questions about Mark Mendoza’s absence from Twisted Sister’s upcoming 50th anniversary reunion shows. He downplayed the situation as a routine business decision in a statement shared on Metal Mayhem ROC.
The guitarist’s comments came in response to a direct question about why bassist Mark Mendoza won’t be participating in the band’s 2026 reunion plans.
French declined to provide additional details when asked to expand on his previous explanation that “it didn’t work out.”
“No, I don’t want to expand. There’s nothing to expand on. Dee, me and Eddie have played with 10 different drummers and bass players. 10. Most people don’t realize that. 10 different, you know, and there’s been 17 ex-members of the band,” French said.
He compared Twisted Sister’s lineup changes to other long-running rock bands. He emphasized that such transitions are common in the industry.
“And if you look at Mötley Crüe, look at Judas Priest, look at AC/DC, look at Guns N’ Roses, every band that’s been around for 30, 40, 50 years goes through realignments,” he continued. “I mean, that’s what they do, you know, that’s kind of what we do. It’s business. And that was it. We went through a realignment.”
French concluded with a reference to the band’s history of drummer changes. He noted their extensive lineup shifts over the decades.
“And I’ve been through 17 realignments with Twisted, you know. We our drummers are like Spinal Tap, you know. They spontaneously combust, you know. We’ve been through so many of them. So, it’s just life goes on,” he said.
The upcoming reunion tour represents a significant milestone for the band. The group has undergone numerous lineup changes throughout its five-decade history while maintaining its core identity.
WikiMetal reported that the “Twisted Forever, Forever Twisted” tour will feature the core trio of French, Dee Snider and Eddie Ojeda. Longtime Snider collaborator Russell Pzütto will step in on bass to replace Mendoza. This marks another chapter in the band’s extensive history of personnel changes that French referenced in his comments.
The 2026 shows will also highlight the band’s ongoing evolution. Blabbermouth noted that former mid-1980s member Joe Franco will return on drums in place of A.J. Pero, who died in 2015 at age 55. Franco’s return represents yet another “realignment” in the band’s long history of drummer changes that French compared to the fictional band Spinal Tap.
French has previously addressed Mendoza’s departure in broader terms. He explained to Rolling Stone that the core trio has performed as Twisted Sister for nearly 50 years with various supporting musicians. Blabbermouth revealed that French noted by the time they wrapped things up in 2016, Twisted Sister were performing for an average of 75,000 people a night. Some shows reached 110,000 attendees.
The bassist’s absence from the reunion tour continues a pattern of lineup adjustments that has characterized the band throughout its career. This reinforces French’s assertion that such changes are simply part of the business of maintaining a long-running rock band.
