“I hate them. Tribute acts are non creative garbage.”
— Dee Snider original voice of Twisted Sister
“For a new generation of kids who will never get to see Eddie Van Halen or the original Twisted Sister lineup in their prime, we are the closest thing they have to a physical history lesson.”
— Derek Fuller guitarist Fan Halen
MS NEWS / May 7th 2026 — In a world where Rock Stars are dying off like dinosaurs and others are being challenged with health issues that prevent them from performing at their peak level… that in turn is forcing some musicians into an earlier than planned retirement.
With that, cover bands and tribute acts are doing big business.
How big?
Very big… and so it seems that not everyone is thrilled that the local garage band have seemingly found themselves in a tax bracket above and beyond the average weekend warrior pay.
Some of these acts are actually selling more tickets than the original artists they’re covering or impersonating.
The truth is, in 2026 there are world-class tribute acts that are drawing thousands of people and being paid tens of thousands of dollars to put on a show like you may have seen in an arena back in the 80’s.
But like anything in life, the debate rages on where some fans love these shows, while others detest them.
In a recent online exchange on X the original voice of Twisted Sister – Dee Snider himself – answered one fan’s question about tribute acts who asked what he thought of them.
Snider didn’t mince words and blasted back with; “I hate them. Tribute acts are non creative garbage.”
That exchange found its way into the Fan Halen camp, a Van Halen tribute from Southern California that has been around for more than a decade, and are considered one of the premier tribute acts to Van Halen, often compared in quality to other long-running tributes like The Atomic Punks.
The Atomic Punks have been around more than 30 years and were once fronted by David Lee Ralph, real name Ralph Saenz and also known as Michael Starr of Steel Panther.
Steel Panther took a local cover band gimmick that started in the late 90’s, and have since branded their fun, catchy, dirty and original music touring the planet playing to massive festival crowds and releasing a half dozen records that started with them signing to Univeral Music Group.
They are just 1 of several success stories that didn’t start out, or take the path of what most traditional bands did in the 70’s 80’s and early 90’s.
Fan Halen are another success story, who focus on the David Lee Roth era and have found themselves playing sold out shows across the United States along with tours in Japan, Mexico and Canada, along with making appearances throughout Europe and South America as well.
Derek Fuller is Fan Halen‘s Eddie and he decided to pen a response to Snider which was shared on the Fan Halen Facebook page yesterday (May 6th 2026).
We have shared his response below… and feel he has made many valid points.
An Open Letter to Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Respectfully, you got it wrong.
Dear Dee,
I’ve always admired your “we’re not gonna take it” attitude. It’s the very definition of the rock ‘n’ roll spirit. But recently, you called tribute acts “non-creative garbage.” As someone who has dedicated years to meticulously honoring the legacy of Eddie Van Halen in our tribute, Fan Halen, I felt compelled to offer a different perspective.
To be clear: I’m not foolish enough to believe that any tribute artist is “as good” as the original. The originals are the Masters—the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts, and the Michelangelos of our world. They were the architects; we are simply the actors performing the play they wrote. But just because a Shakespearean actor didn’t write Hamlet doesn’t mean his performance isn’t art.
When an actor steps onto a Broadway stage to portray Alexander Hamilton, we call it Live Theater. When Rami Malek spends a year studying every twitch and breath of Freddie Mercury for Bohemian Rhapsody, or Jamie Foxx vanishes into the role of Ray Charles, we call it Award-Winning Art. Both men won Academy Awards for those “tributes.” $900 million worth of fans thought Freddie’s story was worth seeing on the big screen, even if it wasn’t Freddie himself.
Is that garbage, Dee? Or is it only garbage when it’s on a concert stage instead of a theater stage or movie screen?
The reality of 2026 is a hard one for rock fans. Sadly, many of our heroes are no longer with us. Iconic bands have disbanded, or let’s be honest—the price of a ticket to a legacy stadium tour is now more than a monthly mortgage payment for the average fan.
Tribute acts fill the void that time and the economy left behind.We aren’t “stealing” creativity; we are curators of a moment in time. We provide a space for people to revisit their youth, to hear the “Brown Sound” or the “Twisted” riffs in a live concert setting where they can close their eyes and feel 17 again. For a new generation of kids who will never get to see Eddie Van Halen or the original Twisted Sister lineup in their prime, we are the closest thing they have to a physical history lesson.
You’ve always stood up for the fans, Dee. Well, the fans are the ones in our front rows, singing every word, AIR-guitaring to every riff, and thanking us after the show for helping them remember a time they thought was gone forever.
If keeping the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll alive for the people who love it most is “garbage,” then we’ll wear that label proudly. But to us, it’s just another form of theater—and the standing ovations say the audience thinks it’s art.
Respectfully,
Derek Fuller – Fan Halen
The reactions for the Fan Halen post on Facebook currently has 1,600 likes, over 650 comments and it’s been shared almost 150 times in just over 24 hours.
Comments as one might expect, are all over the board, but it seems the larger percentage by a landslide are siding with Derek Fuller and Fan Halen.
Metal Sludge would like to note, which has been stated throughout the comments that Twisted Sister and Dee Snider started out as a cover band in the tri-state area playing multiple sets of covers nightly for many years in the 1970’s before getting signed… ironically, that path mirrors what Steel Panther did 2 decades later.
In recent years Snider himself has shown up to jam Twisted Sister covers with Bret Michaels‘ back-up band… essentially performing a tribute to Twister Sister, yet French, Ojeda or Mendoza are nowhere to be seen or heard.
Would it be safe to say, that Dee‘s tribute is also “Garbage“?
The 71 year old retired Twisted Sister frontman has done the same with Lita Ford, and even sang Ozzy Osbourne‘s parts with Ford doing a duet of her hit “Close My Eyes Forever.”
Snider also performs a cover of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell” at some of these Bret & Lita shows and other Youtube searches find him covering Scorpions‘ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” live and recording covers of the Nazareth hit “Love Hurts” and The Rolling Stones song “Paint It Black.”
Oddly, the very band that Snider fronted for decades is now going to tour as Twisted Sister with only 2 classic era members and 3 hired-guns to fill out their lineup… which includes Sebastian Bach on lead vocals.
One might suggest this like the Pantera show, is essentially a tribute to Twisted Sister which is all good and we’re not faulting either, or any band out there doing their thing… but obviously Dee is doing exactly that when he calls tribute bands “Garbage.”
In the end… Snider blasting tribute bands is a bit hypocritical with all things considered.
Then again, this is the same guy that took Kiss, Ozzy and Mötley Crüe to task over the years when they came out of retirement to tour again… then we watched Twisted Sister make a similar big comeback announcement after Snider relentlessly dragged any and every band who did the same before he and his group chose to take the same path… the only reason Bach is there and not Snider, is his health.
We love Dee Snider and Twisted Sister here at Metal Sludge, but… sometimes we have to take out the “Garbage” too.
Ready, Set, Sludge!
Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for more Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both New Interviews and Classic 20 Questions.
