Twisted Sister's Dee Snider reveals how their hit song helped him amid bankruptcy

Twisted Sister's hit 1984 song "We're Not Gonna Take It" has served as an anthem for various movements and political campaigns over the decades, and front man Dee Snider admits he's also embraced the lyrics during a tough time in his life.

In an interview with Fox News Digital published Sunday, the 69-year-old singer reflected on when he "lost everything" following the band's breakup in the late '80s.

"People need to share their failures, not just their successes. People need to know there's no shame in falling down and you're not the only one who falls down," he said.

"When you fall down like I did and lost everything — double bankruptcy, my career collapsed, I was riding a bicycle to a desk job, answering phones. ... You know, things just went incredibly south. People need to hear those stories and know they're not alone."

'It was crazy how broke we were'

Snider cited his wife of 48 years, Suzette, as one of the reasons he made it through financial difficulties: "She's been by my side forever, so I always had someone standing with me and saying 'We've got this," he said.

"Also, just sort of my attitude, the 'we're not going to take it' (attitude)," Snider added. "I'm singing my song to myself, (saying) 'We're not gonna take it. I'm going to get out of this. I'm going to get out of this and keep moving forward.'"

"And eventually, you know, radio, voice-over acting, reality TV, movies, I do all those things," Snider said. "And then the band reunited for a while, and that was great. So don't worry about Dee."

In a 2012 interview with Fox News, Snider blamed his ego for continuing to spend money he didn't have and detailed how mismanaging his finances impacted his family.

"Our heyday was 1984-85, and by ’95 I was flat broke. It wasn’t sudden; it was a gradual slide where you don’t want to accept it's happening. You convince yourself, ‘Oh no, no it’s going to get better,'" he said.

"We shopped in thrift stores, used coupons. We couldn’t go into a 7/11 with our kids because we couldn’t afford to buy them a piece of candy. It was crazy how broke we were."

He added, "I would always look at the other stars who crashed and burned and say, ‘That will never be me. I don’t drink, I don’t get high, I don’t have a manager that rips me off. I don’t have anyone that can put one over me,’ and I didn’t. I did it to myself."

How Céline Dion helped turn Dee Snider's luck around

Snider revealed in a November 2023 episode of the "Steve-O's Wild Ride!" podcast that he'd earned $0 income one year in the '90s.

"I couldn't sell my catalog; I would've given it away. I would've sold it for $10,000, $20,000," he told the hosts. "I was broke; I had three children."

A turning point, he said, was when his wife asked him to write her a Christmas song. The tune made its way to Céline Dion, thanks to Snider's sound engineer, and she recorded the track and included "The Magic Of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)" on her best-selling 1998 album "These Are Special Times."

Snider, who owns the publishing rights to the track, said, "It was the only song I never wrote for commercial release, and it might be the most valuable song I've ever wrote."

Snider was the subject of A&E's latest "Biography" documentary series episode, "Biography: Dee Snider," which premiered Sunday. The installment "shares the untold story of how Snider went from a high school choir boy to one of the most recognized faces in hard rock."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dee Snider says 'We're Not Gonna Take It' helped him amid bankruptcy