It is saddening to see bands splitting and band members fighting until they bring the end to their group career. Perhaps, the most unfortunate of them all is having to separate forcefully after facing a tragic death of a band member. Hence, Motörhead, one of the greatest metal bands, disbanded after their iconic vocalist Lemmy Kilmister passed away due to his struggle with cancer in 2015.
Kilmister’s death affected his band and those who were inspired and influenced by him. One of those people was Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider, who spoke about the singer a day after his passing. According to Snider, Kilmister helped Twisted Sister to launch in England to a whole new crowd, and he once told the heartwarming story about this applauded support.
How Did Lemmy Kilmister Help Twisted Sister’s Career?
Twisted Sister was formed in 1972 in New York and quickly became a rock and roll representative in the country. After around six years of performing in America, the band ventured to the United Kingdom for a new crowd. They got the opportunity to open for Motörhead, and regardless of their experience, the band was very nervous about facing a new audience. The Motörhead fans seemed scary to them, yet Kilmister eased them into the new faces and turned them into icons in England.
Snider told the story a day after Kilmister passed away in 2015. He talked about how the Motörhead crowd was dark and scary, terrifying them. Kilmister sensed their anxiety and decided to present Twisted Sister himself to the fans. He asked the audience to listen to Twisted Sister because they were his friends, and the crowd obeyed. The band had a fantastic time and later presented Motörhead. The night was excellent, which helped the band establish a career in the UK.
Here is the story as told by Dee Snider in 2015:
“We had to go on in the daylight, which we had never done before. We had heard that bands that wore make-up had been unceremoniously bottled off the stage, bands like Girl with Phil Lewis from L.A. Guns and Phil Collen from Def Leppard. They wore make-up and were killed. So, we were going on in the daylight on top of everything else. No cloak of darkness, and we were terrified.
There was talk of not wearing make-up and costumes backstage. I was scared as anybody because Motörhead’s crowd doesn’t get much uglier. You’d rather have sex with one of the guys than the girls in the crowd. I said, ‘We’ve done this for six and a half years now. I’ve been through hell with this make-up and costumes, and I am not taking them off now. And so, we are going to go out anyway.’
And Lemmy Kilmister knew the smell of human excrements. He knew we had shit in our pants. So he said, ‘I am going to introduce you guys,’ which I thought was one of the most gracious things for a headliner to do to come out before his set. We walked out on stage, and the people had bottles in the back like this. People were ready to start throwing. Lemmy walked out, and the crowd froze, and Lemmy said, ‘These are some friends of mine from America. Give them a listen. Twisted Sister.'”
He continued:
“We played a ferocious set. And the place went nuts. It was one of the most memorable reactions in my career. Ten minutes after our show, as we sat in the locker room toweling off, we heard the stadium, just as you heard: ‘Pom pom Twisted pom-pom Sister pom.’ Ten minutes after the show, we were like, ‘Whoa!’ Then Lemmy came in and said to me, ‘I introduced you. Now you introduce me.’ I was stunned to be asked by Lemmy if.
I went up on stage, and the place went crazy. I brought on Motörhead and then stood on the side of the stage and headband ferociously. He dedicated America to me, and it was one of those nights that I will never forget. It launched Twisted Sister‘s career in England and, subsequently, the world, and I think that if Lemmy had not stepped in, it would have been a very different story to tell. I love you, Lemmy!”
In 1988, Twisted Sister disbanded and later reunited in 1997, 2001, and 2003. The last time they were together as a band was in 2016, but Dee Snider is still an advocate and a representative of rock and roll. Thanks to Kilmister’s contributions, he is now a known figure worldwide.
