Twisted Sister's first two albums, Under the Blade (1982) and You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll (1983), were critically well-received and earned the band underground popularity.

The band achieved mainstream success with their third album, Stay Hungry (1984), and its single "We're Not Gonna Take It", which was their only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Michael O'Neill took over the lead vocals from Brown, who had left; Segall hated the name "Silver Star", and pushed to have it changed.

At this point, the band broke-up and a second iteration brought in a new lead singer (Rick Prince) and guitar player (Keith Angel).

The band followed a more glam rock direction, influenced by David Bowie, Slade, Mott the Hoople, the Rolling Stones, and the New York Dolls.

The group took a heavier musical direction in April 1976 with the addition of new drummer Tony Petri, who was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Slade, and Alice Cooper.

The band broke attendance records at large halls in the Tri-State Area and its growing fan base began to take the name "S.M.F.F.O.T.S.

NME reported that Twisted Sister had sold out the 3,000 capacity New York Palladium for a March 16 show without a recording contract or radio airplay.

After selling out the Palladium, the group began aggressively pursuing a recording contract, with an aim to get out of the club circuit before its impending collapse due to the upcoming change of the drinking age from 18 to 21.

Pero) is considered the "official Twisted Sister line up" because this version is responsible for almost all the studio albums, singles, videos and DVDs.

[10] In July 1982, the group released its first EP, Ruff Cutts, on the Secret Records label, still featuring Tony Petri on the drums.

Despite rather low production quality, the album was an underground hit in the UK, providing the band with sufficient name recognition to open for such metal acts as Motörhead.

Another single, the future hit "We're Not Gonna Take It", was planned for release, but Secret Records went out of business before Snider was able to complete the lyrics.

[10] The band's first LP under Atlantic, You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll, produced by Stuart Epps, was released in 1983 and included the UK No.

Some speculate that the failure was partly due to MTV choosing not to air the video for "Be Chrool to Your Scuel" on the grounds that it was graphically offensive.

The song featured such guests as Alice Cooper (who also stars in the video), Brian Setzer, Clarence Clemons and Billy Joel.

In 1986, Snider embarked on a solo project, reportedly approaching future Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, but this did not work out.

The music video for the lead single "Hot Love", featuring the band members without their makeup, had moderate success on MTV.

[citation needed] On October 12, 1987, almost two months after the release of Love Is for Suckers, Snider left the band, the record label cancelled its contract, and Twisted Sister disbanded.

[14] After the band's break-up, former members were involved in different projects: In 1992, Atlantic Records, released a "best of" album Big Hits and Nasty Cuts that also featured some live performances from the Under The Blade period.

The album featured a wide range of artists and bands who had been influenced by Twisted Sister, including Lit, Motörhead, Chuck D, Anthrax, Overkill, Cradle of Filth, Joan Jett, Sebastian Bach, and HammerFall.

In November 2001, the reunited Twisted Sister joined fellow New York metal artists Anthrax, Overkill, Sebastian Bach, and Ace Frehley to headline a benefit concert for NYPD and FDNY Widows and Orphans Fund in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

2002 also saw the featuring of "I Wanna Rock" as one of the gameplay radio songs on the videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

The project's first album, Oculus Infernum, was released by Koch Records and featured a blend of heavy metal and orchestral elements in the style of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Twisted Sister performed at Copenhell 2014 in Denmark to an audience of 20,000 as part of the group's Stay Hungry 30th Anniversary World Tour.

[citation needed] On October 13, 2011, the band announced a five-disc DVD set of live performances over the group's entire career entitled From the Bars to the Stars, with a release date of November 8.

[16] Former Twisted Sister drummer Richard Teeter, who had played with the band in 1980 and 1981, died from complications due to esophageal cancer on April 10, 2012.

[22] Mike Portnoy (of The Winery Dogs and Transatlantic and formerly of Dream Theater and Adrenaline Mob) filled in for Pero on drums on this tour.

[25][26] On this tour a recording of a drum solo, from one of AJ's last concerts with Twisted Sister, was shown on the stage screen, giving the fans one final experience of the classic line-up together.

"[4] In interviews, Dee Snider cited Slade, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, KISS, Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Monkees, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Queen, Van Halen and AC/DC as influences.