Twisted Sister Taps Joey Cassata as Drummer for Reunion with Sebastian Bach

Joey Cassata will sit behind the kit when Sebastian Bach fronts Twisted Sister for a handful of select fall 2026 shows, the band confirmed in posts and social media activity published March 3. Cassata announced the assignment from his @joeycassata Instagram account, writing, "SUPER excited (and beyond honored) to be drumming for this LEGENDARY band!! I’ve been an SMF since I was 8 years old… and now this?! Absolutely surreal. YOU CAN’T STOP ROCK AND ROLL!! Let’s gooooo!!!"

Cassata brings a résumé that includes playing drums on Ace Frehley’s final original solo album, 10,000 Volts, and a long history with New York hard rock. He opened for KISS with his band ZO2 for 50 shows in 2004, cites seeing KISS at Madison Square Garden at age five as an early inspiration, and that ZO2 starred in the TV show Z Rock alongside guest stars such as Joan Rivers and Sebastian Bach. Promotional and rehearsal photos showing Cassata at a drum kit have circulated, including a first rehearsal photo shared by rock journalist Mitch Lafon and an Instagram image embedded in the drummer’s post.

The Cassata announcement follows a sharp reshuffle of Twisted Sister’s 2026 reunion plans. The group originally planned shows with Dee Snider on vocals alongside Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, but on February 5 the band said it had scrapped its spring and early summer dates after Dee Snider resigned, language the band described as a "sudden and unexpected resignation" that forced cancellations. March 3 posts from French and Ojeda announced Sebastian Bach, the former Skid Row frontman, will step in to front the band for those fall appearances, with a band statement noting, "These appearances do not affect or conflict with Sebastian’s current or future solo touring schedule, which remains fully intact."

Current playing personnel for the fall iteration listed by the band and in social posts include Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda on guitars, Joey Cassata on drums, and a bass role attributed to Russell/Russel Pzütto in different reports; multiple outlets also note Mark "The Animal" Mendoza will not be participating. Media reports say Joe Franco had been expected to fill the drum slot earlier as a fill-in for the late A.J. Pero, who died in 2015 at age 55, but that plan "didn't come to fruition." Twisted Sister last toured on the Forty And Fuck It 40th anniversary run that concluded in November 2016, and Mike Portnoy sat in on drums for the band at the sixth annual Metal Hall Of Fame charity gala in January 2023 at The Canyon in Agoura Hills, California.

Official fall show dates and venues have not been released. The band’s recent social posts, Cassata’s Instagram message, and the Mitch Lafon rehearsal photo together confirm the personnel change and signal that Twisted Sister’s reunion dates will proceed this autumn with Sebastian Bach on vocals and Joey Cassata behind the drums.