A.J. Pero, Twisted Sister Drummer, Dies At 55

A.J. Pero, the drummer for legendary heavy metal band Twisted Sister, died on Friday. He was 55.

A.J. Pero Dies

Pero was traveling with Adrenaline Mob when he was found unresponsive on their tour bus Friday morning in Poughkeepsie, New York, reported TMZ. The band dialed 911 and the musician was rushed to a nearby hospital but was ultimately pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack.

“The members of Twisted Sister are profoundly saddened to announce the untimely passing of our brother, AJ Pero,” reads a post on the Twisted Sister Facebook page. “The band, crew and most importantly the family of AJ Pero thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this time.”

Twisted Sister band member Jay Jay French called Pero “the engine that drove the train” in a statement he made after learning of his bandmate’s untimely passing.

“A.J. Pero was a force, the likes of which I doubt I will ever have the chance to play in front of again. His drumming was legendary, but his heart, as a human being, was even greater,” French said. “In our hearts, he will always be the engine that drove the train. I loved him and today my heart has been ripped out. RIP.”

French joined Twisted Sister in 1982, just as the band from Long Island became a fixture in the heavy metal scene, going on to have MTV music video hits with songs like “I Wanna Rock.”

Twisted Sister has yet to announce how it will proceed with its six summer tour dates without Pero.