Kevin Dubrow is dead. This hits pretty damn hard. Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister had a lot of respect for each other. The basis for this came from the fact that both Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister formed in 1973--long before the rebirth of heavy metal or "hair metal," as it came to be known, in the 80's. When Quiet Riot (on the West Coast) and Twisted Sister (on the East Coast) were formed, it was an outgrowth of the glam rock movement of the early 70's and both our bands fought the good fight against the onslaught that was disco (ugh!). When most other bands gave up or switched allegiances to what was more commercially viable at the time, both of our bands refused to bend--or break for that matter--and carried the torch for heavy rock through the dark days of the mid to late 70's.

As a result, Quiet Riot were not only at the forefront to the LA metal scene, they were the inspiration for many other bands who went on to find fame and fortune. If you were to look back at old issues of LA music papers, you'd see every band who ever became anything out of LA opening for Quiet Riot. And it was Kevin Dubrow and Quiet Riot's perseverance and refusal to take no for an answer that literally destroyed the barriers of the record industry, television and commercial radio and opened the door for all metal bands to follow into the promised land. And we all know the glory days of metal that followed. Thank you Kevin.

And because Twisted Sister was doing, and had done the same thing for the music scene on the East Coast, our two bands have always shared a mutual respect for one another. We know that none of the other bands (with the possible exception of Y&T who were doing pretty much the same thing in Northern California) had been through the shit that we'd been through. We had earned our battle scars and our right to stand on those coliseum stages...while we felt many others had not.

It's because of this connection, that the passing of Kevin Dubrow hits us particularly hard. You've all heard the saying, "There by the grace of God go I." Well, it's never been truer than now.

The metal community has lost a powerful voice and a great front man, but let it never be said that Kevin Dubrow did not leave his mark. You kicked our asses Kevin, you really did.

Dee Snider - Twisted Sister