"I've been wanting to call it a day for a long time," Snider tells Billboard, "and after AJ passed everybody agreed it was the five of us from the beginning to the end so now it's really time."

Pero suffered a heart attack while playing on tour with Adrenaline Mob last March, prompting the group to assess their plans moving forward. "The best way I can describe it is it's the last five minutes of the Twisted Sister fireworks display," explains guitarist Jay Jay French, who's planning to publish a memoir as well. "This is the end, and I know people are skeptical because all bands say they're retiring and then they don't. We never did, although (Snider) has retired many times. This is the first time I've said, 'Yeah, this is it.' It's been a long time. It's been over 9,000 shows, and it is time to call it a day."

"We're gonna do a limited number of shows and they're gonna be (big) paydays so everybody can put some money away and we'll go out on a high note," adds Snider. "I don't want to have that 'I've fallen and I can't get up' moment on stage. If someone came along and offered us a s**tload of money for a full-blown tour, I'd still say no."