Broke Dee Snider lied about his identity when he took on office job in 1992
Dee Snider has reflected upon his lowest ebb in the early nineties when he’d flittered away his fortune.
Speaking in Issue 9 of Planet Rock Magazine, Dee says that he’d blown all the money he’d made with Twisted Sister during their eighties heyday and was forced to take on a menial job answering phones.
With people instantly recognising him, Dee explained that he was forced to deny his identity as he worked covertly in the office.
“I made a s***-load of money and I lost every single penny,” Dee told us. “Not because I was high – because I didn’t drink or do drugs – and not because I was ripped off by managers or lawyers: I had no one to blame but me.”
He continued: “The ego that drives you to believe that you can be a star is the same ego that, when you make it, refuses to acknowledge the warning signs when things are turning to s***.
“I was so broke at one point that in 1992 the only job I could get was answering phones in an office for $200 a week. People would walk in and say, ‘And you….?’ And I’d lie, and say, ‘ No, I just look like him.”
Elsewhere in his My Guide To Life feature, Dee urged upcoming rock stars not to believe their own hype.
“Twisted Sister were regionally famous way before we became internationally famous: without having a record out we drew 23,000 people to a local park for one free concert. So we were prepared for fame,” Dee said.
“But the lesson I learned the hard way is not to believe your own hype. I became a megalomaniac, thinking I floated on air, and I alienated my band, my family, my wife… all because I believed everyone telling me how amazing I was.”
You can read the full interview with Dee in Planet Rock Magazine now, where he shares his essential life lessons and discusses brawling, why he never wanted to join the ’27 Club’ and how being in a rock band is like being a hired assassin.
ORDER ISSUE 9 OF PLANET ROCK MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE