Twisted Sister has a long history in the rock music world, and they soared during an era when MTV’s videos started ruling TVs around the country. Dee Snider fronted the band famous for the makeup, the hair, and the loud anthem, “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
The group even created a Zombie-themed video that was banned from MTV. Knowing what fans know about the heavy metal band, — and Snider — it may seem somewhat unbelievable that their leader is responsible for one of Celine Dion’s biggest Christmas songs.
Part of Twisted Sister’s history includes a Christmas album
After ten years of grinding it out and a few breakups, Twisted Sister blew up during the early ‘80s. Snider established himself as a formidable songwriter and became the face of the band.
The group sold millions of records but admitted internal issues led to fallout. They broke up again reunited sometime in the early 2000s, touring and making music.
By 2006, Twisted Sister dropped A Twisted Christmas, an 11-track album that featured their unique take on classics such as “Silver Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
They even released music videos and went on a short tour during the holiday season to close out what was supposed to be their run as a band.
But before they were inspired to do their rock version of Christmas favorites, Snider penned a song that wound up being covered for another pop star.
Dee Snider wrote a song for Celine Dion
Back in 2014, Snider appeared on the Talk is Jericho podcast to discuss his storied career, his Broadway show, and that time he wrote a track that was later sung by Celine Dion.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Snider said he initially wrote it for his wife who specifically asked for a Christmas song. It took some nudging, but he did it. The dilemma? He said it was out of his range so he hired some singers to record it as a gift and originally titled it “God Bless Us Everyone.”
One of the engineers that worked on it — Ric Wake — also worked with Dion. He called Snider a couple of years later and said Dion wanted to cover the tune, to which Snider replied, “Does she know who wrote it?”
After learning Dion was in the dark about its origins, he told the producer, “Do not tell her Satan wrote a Christmas song!”
They kept that information under wraps, and she recorded the song under the title “The Magic of Christmas Day.” Snider didn’t care if she changed the title and directed wake to put it on the album. It turned out to be a wise move.
How Snider credits the song for helping him
Snider told the podcast host that the project sold eight million copies for Dion and the song was also put on Rosie O’Donnell’s Christmas album. He said because of its success, they call his home “The house Saint Celine built.”
Additionally, Snider joked that she heard he was the writer behind the hit years later and “was very confused.” Allegedly, Dion asked, “The one with the makeup? With the bone?” He’s grateful for how things turned out as it was one song he wrote that was never intended to be made public.
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