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Dee Snider on rock'n'roll, broadway and how Céline Dion paid for his house

Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider traces the path from becoming a rock star to starring in his own family-friendly Christmas musical.
CBC Radio ·
Singer, songwriter and Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider throws up the horns in studio q. (Fabiola Carletti/CBC)
Q26:37Dee Snider's q playlist

He's been at the very top of the business, and lived through the lowest of lows.

As Twisted Sister's lead singer, Dee Snider was on top of the world. With smash hits like I Wanna Rock and We're Not Gonna Take It, their album Stay Hungry went multi-platinum.

But fame was fleeting. After Snider made a grand total of zero dollars one year, he realized he needed to reinvent himself.

It took him on a journey from reality TV — appearing on the outspoken Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice — to a national radio show, to his latest project: a family-friendly musical, Dee Snider's Rock 'n' Roll Christmas Tale.

Here's a selection of songs from Snider's q playlist. Some of them might surprise you:

On the song that made him want to be a rock star, The Beatles' I Wanna Hold Your Hand.

The song that cemented his status as a megastar in 1984, Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock.

And the song that eventually paid for his house: the song he wrote as a Christmas gift to his wife, which might be his biggest money-maker ever — Céline Dion's The Magic of Christmas Day.

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